Tears of joy streamed down LeAnn’s face as she took a set of keys from a Habitat for Humanity of Omaha staff member — a moment that marked the end of a lifetime spent on the move.

LeAnn had lived in 27 different places before purchasing her forever home – almost all of them apartments.

“We moved at least once a year when I was a child,” she said. “But after getting married 13 years ago, I started to find stability.”

LeAnn holds up the keys to her house.

Now, she and her spouse, Justin, have a place to truly call home — a place they can plant roots, make memories and never have to pack up again.

Working as a fundraising database manager at Habitat Omaha, LeAnn has watched and celebrated as other families purchased their first homes.

“When we see people like us doing things like this, when we read stories about homeowners, if this person can do this, why can’t I?” she said.

But financial barriers and the fear of rising property taxes made homeownership seem unattainable.

“I honestly thought we’d end up living in an apartment, a yurt or maybe event a remodeled school bus,” she said. “Literally, anywhere but a real house of our own.”

LeAnn and Justin’s path toward homeownership began more than five years ago while she was working at another housing organization. That’s where she met Guilia, who is now the workforce housing supervisor at Habitat Omaha.

“She ran my credit. It was pretty bad,” LeAnn said.

Guilia coached LeAnn on the steps she needed to take to improve their credit. Through that process, the couple was able to remove around $20,000 in student loans from Justin’s credit report.

“That was my glimmer of hope,” LeAnn said.

After she began working at Habitat Omaha, LeAnn learned the organization offered its Workforce Housing program — a program that brings Habitat Omaha directly to employees at their place of work — to its own employees. She watched as one of her coworkers and close friends, Kapree, began the program.

With Guilia’s continued guidance, LeAnn also started the program and kept improving her credit. Then a new rule that unpaid medical bills would no longer appear on credit reports was announced by the Biden administration.

“It was like a hand swept the hurdles off the table,” LeAnn said.

Three days before she and Justin saw their future home, LeAnn had a dream about the house they were going to buy. When they walked into the open market house on South 17th Street, LeAnn recognized the staircase from her dream. The green three-bedroom house was it.

“We’re going to get this house,” she told Justin, who reminded her not to fall in love so she wouldn’t be disappointed if they didn’t.

Instead, LeAnn prayed. On the day of the open house, there was a snowstorm.

“Nobody showed up to the open house, so we were the only bidder,” she said.

A few months later, LeAnn and Justin celebrated as they moved for the final time. This time, they treated themselves to movers.

“The first thing we unpacked was our record player,” she said. “We had this moment just listening to records and slow dancing a bit,” she said.

For the first time, after a move, LeAnn could relax.

“I felt like I could take my shoes off and really put my feet on the ground. I felt so grounded in that space. It felt so permanent,” she said. “That moving anxiety that I have lived with and held space for my entire life just went away.”

Homeownership through their partnership with Habitat Omaha has given LeAnn and Just more than just walls and a roof.

“It’s given us the peace of mind that we’ve searched for across 27 moves,” LeAnn said. “It’s given us a foundation – not just for our home, but for our lives.”

LeAnn and Justin at their home dedication.