Kyra and Malik are trailblazers in their respective families. They are the first in their families to graduate from college and branch out to a new state and build something entirely of their own.
Kyra grew up on the south side of Chicago and was raised by a hard-working single mother that did everything she could to provide for her family. However, stability wasn’t something Kyra had a lot of—they moved six times before she graduated high school, lived in two different states, and she went to six different schools. She says, “I got used to change, but I always longed for the kind of stability that comes with having a place to call home.” Her grandparents did own a home in Chicago and no matter what else was shifting around her, she always knew she could go there. It was where family gathered, where she could feel rooted, even when everything else felt uncertain. She says, “that experience showed me just how much home is about more than just a roof over your head—it’s about having a place where you feel safe and can always return.”
Malik grew up in rural North Carolina. Both of his parents passed away when he was young and he was raised primarily by his step-mother. However, he spent a lot of time at his grandmother’s house and it’s there that he truly experienced a sense of home and what it meant to own a home.
Now Kyra and Malik are beginning to lay down roots in Portland, Oregon where both of their jobs are focused on helping local youth. With the help of Greenline, they were recently able to purchase their first home. Kyra says, “When thinking about the possibility of owning a home I think about my grandfather’s stories of share cropping, reminding me far too much of slavery. I think about how the land he worked and dedicated so much of his time to was not his own. Owning a home hits different when I reflect on my ancestors path that got me here. It’s honestly really difficult to fully put into words what home ownership means to me, but I would say it feels like thanking my ancestors.”
