Until she became a homeowner, Joi had lived her entire life in public housing.
She grew up in Brooklyn with her mother and three brothers and later moved into her own apartment in the same development where she was raised. It was there that she raised her two sons while building a career with the MTA. But even as she built a life in the community she had always known, she never stopped thinking about what homeownership could mean for her family.
“When I started working for transit, I knew I eventually wanted to move into a house,” she said. “From the minute I started working, I started saving.”
While owning a home had always been the goal, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed her to take action. “COVID pushed me to start taking the steps to become a homeowner and learn what the process looked like.”
As she began pursuing homeownership, she thought about what she wanted for her children. After spending a lifetime in public housing, she hoped to give them more space and a different experience growing up. “I want my kids to have better,” Joi said. “I want them to be able to go outside comfortably and have space. Public housing apartments are small, and you feel cramped.”
But for Joi, homeownership wasn’t just about having more room. It was about creating something lasting. “You own it,” she said. “If something happened to me, I would have something to leave to my kids—something they could pass down to their own families one day.”
Since moving into her home, Joi has seen the impact on her family, especially her youngest son. “He’s always excited to come home,” she said. “He never wants to leave.”
Today, Joi is settling into her new home and discovering joy in the everyday responsibilities that come with it. “The littlest things make me giddy,” she said. “It’s trash day, so I have to take my trash out. I have to make an appointment to get my grass cut. It doesn’t even feel real sometimes. Like, wow—this is mine.”
For Joi, homeownership means more than having a place to live. It means having a home of her own, more space for her family, and the opportunity to build something she can one day pass on to her sons. What once felt like a dream is now a reality.