As part of its new partnership with Dallas Area Habit for Humanity, Dwell With Dignity was able to provide furnishings and decorations for new homeowner Jari Camp and her family. [Editor’s note: The correct name is Jari Champ. Unfortunately, the incorrect name was provided by the public relations representative. Our apologies to Jari and her family.] The great reveal took place Thursday, November 4, just in time for the holidays. Here’s a report from the field:
Surrounded by family, friends, Dwell with Dignity and Dallas Habitat team members, and volunteers, new Dallas Habitat homeowner Jari Camp Champ, her husband Corey and son CJ saw their fully furnished and decorated home for the first time yesterday. Their home is located in the Joppa neighborhood of Dallas.
The nonprofits announced last week that they’re now working together to gift free interior design services to qualifying Dallas Habitat families who’ve achieved homeownership. Dwell with Dignity provided Jari with a professional design consultation to make her house feel like home. They fully transformed and furnished the home – incorporating pieces that were special to her and even creating custom artwork.
Jari is a pharmacy technician and a Kansas native who moved to Dallas in 2012. Her close relationship with her sister, who also resided in Dallas, was a big driver in that decision. After a lot of convincing, Jari and her husband left Kansas, found jobs, and began to call Dallas home. Jari heard about Habitat through a friend who went through the process. At the time, Jari, her husband, and her son were staying in a one-bedroom apartment. She recalls that a two-bedroom apartment was simply too expensive and found the rent prices in Dallas a tough adjustment from Kansas.
Her initial goal with Dallas Habitat was to understand the home buying process. Like many, Jari has student loan debt from her degree and was concerned about how that investment could affect her ability to purchase a home. To her surprise, she got a lot more out of her Habitat experience than homeownership education. Dallas Habitat helped her navigate her credit score and loan, and after working with the team, she and her family qualified for a home. Jari completed 300+ hours of financial education and sweat equity on the home build site, as well as met all financial and savings requirements in order to purchase her new home. Her home was completed in September 2021.
Dwell with Dignity has proven that a beautiful, organized environment can strengthen the family unit and positively impact health and well-being. All of the families Dwell with Dignity served in 2020 remained self-sufficient without the need to return to their prior agency for services. Additionally, the organization has found their impact on children is incredibly powerful with nearly 89 percent of the children they’ve served seeing improvements in their grades, and 82 percent demonstrating increased positive behavior in the classroom.
* Photo provided by Dwell With Dignity