Home is Space For A Family To Grow

Although Sonya was born in Afghanistan, her family moved to the US shortly after her birth. She speaks both English and Farsi and hopes her children will understand the importance of retaining both languages. They are a Muslim family.

During a visit to Afghanistan, Sonya met her future husband. Stable and a good provider, Sonya saw his potential to be a good father, and later they married.

After Sonya discovered she had cancer, the gap between them grew wide. He filed for divorce after she had a double mastectomy. Her 15-year-old son stepped up to care for his two sisters, a responsibility he takes seriously.

Sonya became a single mom searching for housing in Fremont with three kids. For a while, they lived with her mom in a 2-bedroom apartment. These conditions motivated her search, but Fremont’s housing market had exploded during the tech boom, and prices had skyrocketed.

Sonya’s family was housed with the support of ABODE Housing Services in a multi-family affordable housing apartment. Over the past 30 years, Alameda County Housing and Community Development department built 53 multi-family affordable rental projects so families can live in dignity and peace in a safe and secure home. Sonya says of her new three-bedroom apartment: “It’s a dream come true and a great relief.”

“I have vision now, where before it was just darkness. Our home is a stable, permanent environment where I can raise my children. That stability allows me to grow as a person and gives me time to do the work I love. You can get so used to hearing ‘no’ that it’s hard to believe you are hearing yes. Somebody, pinch me!”