Life hasn’t always been easy for Hayley. She is a single mother and going back to school to earn a bachelors degree. After making the time for school, she felt ready to plant some roots for her and her daughter.

Upon learning she was approved for a USDA Rural Development home loan while at work, Hayley let out a squeal of excitement at her desk. Her mother had recommended she apply for a Single Family Housing Direct Home Loan, but she wasn’t confident she’d qualify after renting her entire adult life.

“Finally, I was going to have the opportunity to work for something substantial to leave my daughter. We were going to have a REAL home,” Hayley said.

Hayley began the online search for her perfect home. After looking at many homes, a grand, older home caught her eye.

She called her realtor right away to schedule a viewing. Hayley messaged her daughter’s aunt to see if she would like to come to view the house with them and through this connection learned the home was the daughter’s great-grandparent's old house.

Her daughter’s aunt and dad spent every holiday there until they were eight years old when the home was sold. She even had the old skeleton key to all the original doorknobs in the house! A few tears were shed as they toured the home and thought of the old memories that were made in the house.

Hayley’s offer on the home was accepted, allowing her and her daughter to now have a home of their own. The older home was once a gathering place for her daughter’s father’s family, and now Hayley could start to create memories with her daughter there, too.