Building on Faith: 2017

Ma, the homeowner of the 2017 Building on Faith home, credits her faith in God for her patience and persistence as she worked toward owning her own Habitat home.

We are happy to announce Ma’s home was dedicated on February 3, 2018.

Congratulations Ma!

Ma’s Story

Ma grew up in the Philippines. Like many Filipinos she started working at a very young age, when she was 13.

“The Philippines are very poor,” Ma says. “Everyone has to work hard and jobs are hard to find.” After graduating from high school at 16, Ma traveled to China and eventually Korea in search of work. There she met and married an American serviceman and relocated to what is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Divorced and with four small children, Ma began her career as a home care aid in 2010, a job that she feels brings her close to humanity. “In my job I see people who need help, and I realize we all need help.”

In 2011, Ma saw a sign advertising Habitat for Humanity in Tillicum. However, she was not able to afford to be a homeowner just yet. In January 2015, after carefully saving and planning, Ma applied and was accepted into Habitat’s homeownership program.

Ma completed her sweat equity hours working in the Habitat Store and at the Youth for Christ Center in Tillicum. “I went to work at 4am every day so I could start my sweat equity at 9am,” Ma says. She often worked split shifts so she could complete her hours and also be available for her children when they got home from school.

“I have strong faith and belief,” says Ma, who has attended non-denominational Christian churches her whole life. “I pray with my children every day.”

Ma believes that God works through ministries such as Habitat for Humanity to reach people. After nearly two years, Ma’s Habitat home will finally begin construction this spring. Ma says she doesn’t mind the delay because she knows God has a plan for her life.

Read more about Ma’s journey to homeownership.

Thank you to the 2017 Building on Faith sponsors:

• University Place Presbyterian Church
• St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Tacoma
• St. Mark’s Lutheran Church by the Narrows
• Rainier View Christian Church
• Lutheran Church of Christ the King
• Firmly Grounded Electrical, LLC

Special thanks to the 2017 Wall of Hope sponsors:

Academy Mortgage | Brown & Brown of WA, Inc. | Coldwell Banker Danforth | Gray Lumber Company | Kitsap Bank | Kiwanis Club of Tacoma | Milgard Windows & Doors | Olympic Eagle Distributing | Print NW | Puget Sound Title Company | Rainier View Christian Center | Reeder Management, Inc. | Second Use, Inc. | Sound Credit Union | St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church | St. Mark’s Lutheran Church by the Narrows | The TRUSS Company | Theory Real Estate | Transportation Club of Tacoma | Trinity Lutheran Church | University Place Presbyterian Church | Walsh Construction Company

To get involved in Building on Faith and/or Wall of Hope, please contact us.