All Serov works three jobs to support herself and her three children. She moved to the United States from Ukraine as a teenager with her parents and two brothers 26 years ago.
But in the last eight years, she and her children have had to move four times, and at one point, the family of four found themselves homeless.
Constant rental rate hikes and maintenance issues that went unfixed by her landlord forced Shaqanda Dillard and her two kids to move in with her family six months ago. A single mother, Dillard put herself through college, becoming the first in her family to attend college.
Like many single parents, Serov and Dillard have struggled to provide a roof over their kids’ heads.
Homeownership can be difficult to attain for single parents. But for both Sarasota single mothers, this became a reality on Tuesday.
“I feel like this is a dream, and it’s not me, for sure. I was never in my life expecting this to be with me,” Serov said.
Both mothers closed on their new homes today thanks to Habitat for Humanity Sarasota.