My name is Shondra Smith and I am a single mom. I have a 4 year old son named James. I was born in Chicago and moved to Madison in 1989. I am a Special Education Assistant for the Verona School District and have worked at Stoner Prairie Elementary School for seven years. I work with children who have special needs and/or challenging behaviors. Working at an elementary school has helped me realize that I want James to attend a good school and get a great education.

James was born 11 weeks premature and was only 3 pounds and 16 inches long when he was born. Today he is a very active 4 year old who loves to play with dinosaurs and animals. He also loves to have books read to him. James sees a speech therapist to help him overcome some speech delays. James and I like to go to the zoo and movies together but his favorite place to go is Chuckie Cheese.

I am so happy to be working with Habitat for Humanity of Dane County. It will be a dream come true for us to have our own home. Owning a home will help me provide James with a safe and secure place to grow up and security for his future. I would like to thank everyone who is volunteering to help me build our home. I truly appreciate your help and we will be forever grateful to you. You are not just helping me build a house you are helping me build a future for my son.

We are Peter, Stephanie and Raina Johnston, and we have been living in Madison for the past 10 years. Raina just turned three years old in August, and a very sweet outgoing little girl.

For 11 years Peter worked full time at Econoprint, with a Printing and Publishing Degree from MATC, and in 2004 was let go due to staffing layoffs. This was very hard for us financially and put us back one year while trying to find a stable well paying job. In August of 2006, Peter was offered a job at Paradigm Gardens, a specialty gardening supply store.

My name is Stephanie and I currently had some major changes in jobs as well. For two years I worked at Firefly which recently closed in August, and now I work at Jade Monkey, a new and fun bar located on the East side of Madison. I also work at Tex Tubb’s Taco Palace, on the east side as well. I graduated in 2003 from the University of Madison, with a bachelor degree in Psychology and a Women Studies Certificate.

We are so excited, and so grateful to have been chosen to be apart of Habitat for Humanity. Living in Arboretum Cohousing will allow us to really be involved with our neighbors, and allow a safe place for Raina to grow up in. Thank you so much for helping us have a promising future that we can now look forward to.