Habitat for Humanity East Bay

The Pridgen Family

Veronica Pridgen has always believed in teaching her children the value of believing in themselves and working hard. Habitat, for her, embodied those values of hope, hard work and empowerment. The alignment of these values, in Veronica’s opinion, made the Habitat homeownership program the perfect fit, but there was one hurdle that needed her attention first.

Veronica was born in Dayton, Ohio and grew up in the Bay Area since the age of 13. No stranger to the expense of the area, she worked tirelessly as a parent to get ahead and invested in her education under the philosophy that better education would lead to a better job for her and more financial security for her family. She got a job at a San Francisco newspaper and was quickly promoted to a supervisor position. In the little free time she had, Veronica attended school, eventually receiving her bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.

When Veronica found Habitat East Bay, she and her children, Rahiem (12) and Raianna (9), had lived in their musty one-bedroom apartment for 12 years. The windows in their home leaked constantly creating unhealthy levels of mold, the neighborhood was riddled with crime, and their landlord was rarely responsive to their requests to fix the apartment. It was less than perfect, and provided no personal space for the children to do their school work. Something needed to change, remembers Veronica. This environment would not provide her family the stability they needed to grow as individuals.

Homeownership with Habitat was the answer for their situation, but there was one problem: Veronica’s credit was less than perfect. She recalls being denied but not defeated when she received the call from the office. Despite not qualifying for a Habitat mortgage at that time, the affiliate recognized that Veronica was determined and believed that the new credit counseling program would be a perfect fit for her.

Veronica confesses that she would not have known where to begin without the Habitat credit counseling program. The program educated her on how to repair her current credit and most importantly, it gave her the know-how to avoid the financial pitfalls that can often accompany new homeowners – saving for taxes, planning for maintenance costs and other costs which renters are not familiar with. The education process, for Veronica, was just as important as the credit repair.

After 9 months working to restore her credit, Veronica applied to Habitat East Bay again. This time she was accepted.

"My dream is to show my children they can do anything: go to college, buy a home, become whatever their hearts desire,” says Veronica. “Push for all you want and God will guide you there."

Veronica continues to push. Now that she is close to completing her sweat-equity hours, she plans to pursue her Masters in Criminal Justice. Again, proving that determination, grit and faith will carry a family a long way.