By Lauren Burden | September 10, 2026
When Candice learned that Habitat for Humanity offered home repairs, it felt like a lifeline.
Like many parents caring for a child with special needs, she spends much of her time thinking about safety, accessibility, and creating routines that help her daughter thrive. But making the necessary improvements to her home wasn’t financially possible.
“Income, of course, is an issue,” Candice shared. “The kids and the special needs care really reduces how much we can save… there wasn’t an option to save up to do the numerous projects that needed to be done around the house.”
Creating a Safer Home
Through Habitat’s Home Repair program, we partnered with Candice to make several critical improvements to her home, including a tub-to-shower conversion, replacement windows, a reconfigured exterior door, and a new sidewalk connecting her home directly to the parking area.
While each repair made a difference, installing the sidewalk has made the greatest improvement in the family’s quality of life.
The sidewalk is really helpful. We’ve been getting really good use out of that. Having a direct, safe path in and out.” — Candice
Candice’s daughter relies on structure and familiar routines, and the new pathway creates a clear route from the house to the car, helping reduce stress and improve safety during daily transitions. Another important improvement was reversing the direction of the exterior door so it opens naturally toward the sidewalk.
“Opening it and seeing the path that follows… that’s really important if she’s in a panic, because then it’s like, ‘I walk this path every day. I know where to go,’” Candice said.
More Than a Repair
For Candice’s daughter, the tub-to-shower conversion has made bathing safer, easier, and more manageable.
“The bathroom has been great,” Candice shared. “She is able to step in and out.”
Beyond the repairs themselves, Candice was grateful for the volunteers and contractors who treated her home and family with care and respect.
“Everyone that came in was very polite,” she said. “I could trust them to be in the house, and I didn’t have to worry.”
Habitat for Humanity’s Home Repair program helped create a safer, more accessible home for Candice’s family. Her story is a reminder that decent housing is about more than infrastructure—it’s about independence, dignity, and peace of mind.