Twenty years ago, Omar came to the U.S. with $20 in his pocket. Seven years and lots of paperwork later, his wife joined him. They have since built a family with four boys, the youngest of whom has Downs Syndrome. Omar works at a local factory earning just enough to keep his family safe and well. However, they were renting a two-bedroom, basement apartment in a crowded complex with an expensive rent payment. There was very little opportunity to save, much less attempt to get ahead.

Omar and his wife applied to Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County—and learned they needed to take care of a credit issue before proceeding. They addressed the issue swiftly. They soon were helping with the interior demolition work for their new home, and later, helped to put up new walls. During this time, Omar learned calculus from free social media sites. His self-education landed him a promotion at work! The family falls under 80% of AMI, and to help ensure they are successful homeowners they completed homebuyer counseling.