2ROOFS is Whatcom County's own social real estate team. We believe you should have a joy filled and meaningful real estate experience. Every sale helps house a person in need at no additional cost to you. See how it works HERE.
Thank you to Maria and Andrew who’s home sale has helped provide emergency and transitional housing for homeless families and support for our marginalized neighbors in Whatcom County through the work of Habitat for Humanity. Because of friends like you who have chosen 2roofs as their Realtor over 200 people in need have been helped to find housing.
Here’s the story of Klein family, a family helped through Habitat for Humanity.
Klein Family - Telegraph Road
“I was aware of Habitat. I drove by Habitat every day when I went home. I didn’t think I had a chance. I decided one day that I would put all my effort into the application. I decided to put all my free time into completing what I needed to do, whether I make it or not. That was my mindset—there’s only one way to find out. And then I got the letter. I read that letter 500 times!”
“I’m mixed heritage. My mom is Native American, a Blackfeet tribal member,” said Kelly Klein, one of our Partner Homebuyers, in a recent conversation. “And my dad is Jewish from New York City. My dad was in the Air Force, that’s how he met my mom, in Montana. He was stationed there. I still have strong cultural ties to the Blackfeet.”
Kelly grew up in Montana on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, located near Glacier National Park. Her older sister, who also grew up on the Reservation, eventually left with her husband and moved to Anacortes, Washington. Kelly visited her sister in Anacortes off and on, usually in the summer. One summer Kelly decided to stay in Anacortes.
After finishing community college, she found herself as a single parent without a job, with a young son with learning disabilities in Anacortes. She immediately started taking more classes to learn how she could find a job quickly. She eventually met a job counselor who, after learning about Kelly’s background and interest in working in social services, encouraged her to continue her studies in Bellingham to get a four-year degree to improve her chances of employment.
“I went to school, to community college, and finished my two-year degree in social services because that’s what I wanted to do. But I was really scared because this new program was in Bellingham and I was living in Anacortes. I had to really think about it—did I really want to do the commute? After thinking about it, I decided to just plunge in and do it.”
She did all the paperwork and started her new classes, commuting every day to Bellingham. “I’m not really a freeway driver, I’m a nervous driver,” says Kelly, laughing. “I took all the backroads up the Chuckanut. Eventually I just said, ‘Get yourself on the freeway. You can do it!’ I wasn’t going to let my fear of the freeway stop me from going to class.”
Kelly earned her four-year degree. Even while studying, Kelly did volunteer work as well, mostly in social work, to get more experience. In the last year of her studies, she decided that she no longer wanted to commute. She made the decision to move to Bellingham when her son was just starting first grade.
In Bellingham, Kelly regularly encountered unsafe housing options and rent increases that forced her to move frequently out of concerns for her son’s safety. “I was constantly looking for better housing,” said Kelly. She currently lives in an apartment with her son. “It’s really tiny, just one bed-room, I don’t even have my own room. But I deal with the tininess. I don’t care! Gradually, through the years there, I’ve noticed a lot of mold. The washer is outside, and sometimes it backs up and comes into the bathtub.”
With both her degrees, Kelly wanted to work at the Goodwill, and applied because she wanted a job where she could help other people with their resumes and job skills. But she didn’t get the job.
“I was so afraid of being without a job,” said Kelly. “I was still looking for a job after I graduated, and I was willing to take anything. Then I started out as a temporary worker at The Arc, working part time. They wanted to see how I would work out. That was ten years ago,” Kelly adds.
The Arc of Whatcom County is an organization that provides educational programs and referrals for people with developmental disabilities. “In the back of my mind, I still think…how can this be a temporary job,” she adds, laughing. “I work more in the donation area where we schedule pick-ups for items people want to donate (clothing and small household items).
“It’s not an easy job sometimes,” she adds. “I work with super nice people who are very thankful for what we do. We get thousands of calls! I treat everyone with dignity because everyone who calls, it’s in their hearts to donate.”
Kelly Klein and her son will be among the first eight families to move into Phase 1 of the Telegraph Townhomes Project in the spring of 2020. Kelly personifies the Habitat ethic of strength and determination. For years she’s overcome her fears to do what it takes to lift herself up, and to lift others up as well. We’re so pleased that she’s a Habitat Partner Homebuyer.
2roofs' Realtors work hard to make your home buying or selling experience enjoyable and give part of every commission to help house a person in need. See more stories.