Habitat Omaha, FNBO Empower South Sudanese Mother to Achieve American Dream

For more than 30 years, Nyawal held onto a dream — a safe, stable home where her six children could thrive. Today, thanks to her partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, that dream is a reality.

Nyawal, 57, first learned about Habitat Omaha from her cousin, who had purchased a home with the organization’s support. Inspired, Nyawal applied — but her journey wasn’t easy. Low income and poor credit initially made homeownership feel out of reach.

That’s where Habitat Omaha’s Home Journey program made a difference. The program provides financial education, guidance and partnership to help families overcome barriers to first-time homeownership. Through it, Nyawal gained the confidence and tools she needed to move forward.

The Home Journey team helped Nyawal navigate the path to homeownership.

“I had to educate myself on things about homeownership and financial stability,” Nyawal said through her daughter, Chudier, who served as her interpreter. “It’s not something that I was used to or grew up knowing. I feel that Habitat Omaha helped me a lot.”

Now, Nyawal has purchased a four-bedroom home in the Bluestem Prairie neighborhood, a thriving community with a beautiful park where her nine grandchildren can run and play. She’ll share her home with her daughter, Chudier, son, Bol, and granddaughter, Melaina. Her four other children are grown.

Nyawal’s path to homeownership was shaped by resilience. The native of South Sudan, her husband and three of her children fled the war-torn country, spending years in a refugee camp in Kenya before arriving in the U.S. in 1994. She moved to Nebraska in 2001, living with family until she could secure housing in South Omaha.

As her family grew, Nyawal searched for a larger home, but rental prices were too expensive on a single income after her husband returned to Africa. Since then, she has worked tirelessly on production lines to build a better life for her family. Today, she works at a meat-packing facility in Iowa.

Chudier is proud of her mother.

“She’s my role model,” Chudier said. “She moved from a country where she didn’t know the language to establish herself as an individual with dependents — having to navigate for them to have a better life. I’m very grateful that she was able to do that for us.”

Nyawal is grateful for Habitat Omaha’s partnership. She also appreciates FNBO, which provided funds and employee volunteer labor to build homes for hard-working families to purchase. She’s proud of the work she put in to reach her American dream.

“I have a home of my own,” she said. “It’s something I’ve worked hard for — something I can finally call mine.”