Justice had always wanted to be a homeowner. It was something that her great-grandmother had instilled in her.

“Whatever you do in life, own a house, own your property,” she told her great-granddaughter.

“That was one of my biggest goals as an adult,” Justice said. “That was always the end goal.”

At 26, Justice achieved this when she partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Omaha to purchase a home near her mother in North Omaha.

But first, she had to overcome the obstacles life had already thrown at her, including poor credit and serious health problems.

At 17, Justice was starting to build her life. She had her daughter, Liberty, and attended college to become an English teacher. Her dad helped her buy a car with a loan.

But the vehicle quickly became a lemon. Within a couple of months, it had broken down, and Justice found herself stuck with a loan for a vehicle that was no longer functional.

“I knew nothing about credit or finances,” she said.

Justice mistakenly thought that if the car was unusable, the lender would just take it back and reimburse her for the payments she already made.

However, the situation didn’t unfold as she expected. Without the knowledge or experience to handle the situation, Justice was left with bad credit. She spent the next five years educating herself about credit.

A few years later, and the addition of her son Jamiere, Justice enrolled at Purdue Global University to earn her degree and become a registered nurse. She was working part-time as a certified medical assistant while her husband, Kenneth, served as a police officer.

But a trip to the doctor changed all of that.

It was discovered that Justice, then 24, had a prominent heart murmur. A follow-up appointment with a cardiologist determined she had a hole in her heart and needed to have open heart surgery.

“The wall between the chambers of my heart was non-existent,” she said.

Not to be deterred, Justice completed her finals from her hospital bed following her surgery. During her recovery, she had to take time away from her job and college. Her husband also resigned from his job to help care for her.

But Justice didn’t sit still for very long. She found another job. When she could, she worked both part-time jobs until she returned to classes.

That’s when she met Mercedes, her professor and a Habitat homeowner.

Mercedes told Justice about Habitat Omaha’s Home Journey Program. The program offers financial education, affordable mortgage loans and community resources to help hardworking people buy homes and build a lasting foundation for future generations.

A single mother of two and a brain cancer survivor, Mercedes dreamed of creating a stable foundation for her boys. She purchased her home in the Bluestem Prairie development while attending nursing school and working part-time at Children’s Nebraska.

“I’m doing this now,” Justice said.

She applied and in December 2023, she began her journey toward homeownership. The financial education and counseling helped solidify what she learned on her own and offered more.

“There was so much that I did know but so much that I didn’t know,” Justice said.

A year later, Justice and her family closed on a three-bedroom and two-and-a-half-bath home along Curtis Avenue. The family had previously lived in a two-bedroom apartment in La Vista, where the kids, ages 8 and 6, had to share a bedroom.

“Now that they have separate rooms, they get along better and appreciate each other,” Justice said. “They want to be around each other all the time.”

Justice’s new home is close to her new job, too. The registered nurse started working in the emergency room at CHI Immanuel Hospital in January.

Mercedes, who Justice calls an inspiration, is now her neighbor.

“She inspired me. She was a registered nurse. Now I’m a registered nurse. She was a homeowner in this program. Now, I’m a homeowner in this program,” Justice said. “Seeing somebody do something that you dream about doing, it doesn’t make it feel so out of reach.”