Tiesha Moore said she and her toddler son came to Conway in 2001 to start over after her divorce, and Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County gave her that chance.
She was approved for a home, and she has paid off her 20-year mortgage three years early.
“I just paid it off. Oh, my goodness, it felt so good, unbelievable,” Moore said. “It’s like God gave me this blessing, so I tried to be a good steward of my blessing.”
Moore, 42, is a respiratory therapist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. She was living in Southland in Phillips County when she decided to break away from a bad relationship, she said.
Moore said she was living in an apartment complex for low-income residents when she first moved to Conway.
“I started working and going to school,” she said.
When she talked about applying for a Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County home, some people tried to dissuade her.
“They said Habitat doesn’t give homes to people like me,” she said. Moore said she wasn’t sure what people meant by that, but she ignored them and applied.
“I was trying to find resources to get back on my feet,” she said. Her 20-year-old son, Derrick, was 3 at the time.
The home she was chosen for was built in 2001 on Neal Street.
“They were very clear they were partnering with me — that it was a hand up, not a handout — and what they expected of me,” she said of Habitat.
Shenel Sandidge, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County,
said Moore is one of the nonprofit organization’s first homeowners. This is the Faulkner County nonprofit organization’s 20th anniversary, and house No. 40 is under construction.
Homeowners pay an interest-free mortgage, which is held by Habitat for Humanity.
“It’s not a rental; it’s yours. It’s your credit base and everything,” Sandidge said, adding that Moore’s story proves Habitat for Humanity works. “She’s never been late [with a mortgage payment],” Sandidge said. “She kept her yard up, kept her house up; we never had any issues with her.”
Homeowners also have to provide sweat equity by assisting in the construction of their homes. Moore said she had twisted her ankle and had other health problems, so she mainly worked in the Habitat office, but she worked some on the home. She had friends who came to help build the home, too.
“It was so important to me to get a good environment, a safe environment for him,” Moore said of her son. “When I got approved by Habitat, I was so excited. It was a safe environment where he could run and play. That took more stress off me.”
Once she knew they were safe, “that gave me a chance to dive further into improving myself,” Moore said.
She took her basic-education requirements at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
“I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do,” Moore said. “I knew I wanted to take care of people and help people.”
Moore said she considered several careers in health care, and a friend suggested respiratory therapy. Moore said she shadowed a respiratory therapist, Ben Downs, at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, “and I loved it.”
She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and started as a respiratory therapist there in 2008.
Moore said she’s ready for the next chapter of her life now that she’s paid off her home. She is engaged to Fredierick Smith, and they are looking at buying a home in Pulaski or Saline County. She also plans to become a board member for Habitat for Humanity of Faulkner County to help others reach their dreams of homeownership.
“I just appreciate Habitat so much; I get so emotional,” Moore said. “I try to go talk to people about it, but I get embarrassed because I get so emotional.
“It’s almost like it saved me. It strengthened me; it gave me more courage.”
Sandidge said Moore is to be commended for her perseverance.
“You can move on to bigger and better things if you commit,” Sandidge said.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.