Family Stories: The Paulson Family

Homeownership means that I know I belong

This blog post first appeared on our website many years ago. We’ve migrated it to our new website unchanged to preserve our history.

Tsena Paulson gave up three years ago on the dream of owning her own home. She knew that homeownership would change her life, but a serious back injury and medical bills postponed the process.  When Tsena finally learned that she qualified to purchase one of the new Indiana Street homes through Kulshan, she felt “…an amazing opportunity seemed to land in our lap.” As a writer and editor for an online resume writing company, Tsena has rewarding work, but it doesn’t provide her the income required to go through a conventional loan process.

For the first time in her daughter Heron’s life, they won’t have to worry about their next move, a rent increase, or when a landlord decides to move home again. Tsena reflects, ”I now feel secure that I can adequately provide for myself and my daughter.”

As new homeowners, there are new decisions to be made, but they are the good kinds – what color to paint the walls or which door handles to pick. Tsena says, “Heron is especially excited to paint her room, meet new neighbors, and try out the new dishwasher. It’s the simple things!”

“KulshanCLT worked diligently with me and my daughter Heron, for years to find the right home and set down roots. Even after I gave up three years ago, Christina Olson persisted, and we are so grateful that she did,” recalls Tsena. “Kulshan is helping us own a home while I can still maintain a strong level of medical care that I need at this time in my life. This is a sense of belonging that renting does not give. Because renting is transient, home ownership means that I know I belong.” Because of the assistance from KulshanCLT, Tsena expressed a strong and enduring commitment to furthering the vision of KulshanCLT.

Recently, solar arrays were installed on the Indiana homes. “We are deeply grateful to the donors, volunteers and everyone at KulshanCLT for all they did to make this dream come true. We love our new home, the neighborhood, and this opportunity to own a home and contribute to generating green energy.”