In the summer of 2024, Gretchen was caught off guard when her best friend, Mica, suddenly asked, “Hey, what’s your gross income? How long have you lived in Wake County?”
Gretchen laughed, unsure what was happening. “I was like, I have no idea what you’re doing—but here you go.”
What Gretchen didn’t realize at the time was that Mica was filling out a Habitat for Humanity of Wake County application on her behalf.
When Gretchen moved to Raleigh in 2017, she never expected to find a friend who would change her life. A mutual connection introduced her to Mica, insisting the two would “click.” They were right.
“It was immediate,” Gretchen recalls. “A week after we met, she invited me to her wedding.”
From that day forward, their bond only grew. They briefly launched a floral design business together. Gretchen became godmother to Mica’s son. The two were constantly going on adventures, driving to and from Mica’s house, which happens to be just a few miles from Habitat Wake's Old Poole neighborhood.
“We always passed that neighborhood, and sometimes it would be on the news,” Gretchen remembers. “We were curious about it.”
For Gretchen, the dream of putting down roots continued to grow the longer she lived in the area. She looked into buying a home in 2020, but house hunting solo with an interior designer's salary, student loans, and Wake County’s rising prices felt impossible.
That’s when Mica stepped in with a big idea. After years of driving by the Habitat Wake neighborhood, she filled out an application for Gretchen.
When the approval came through, Gretchen was shocked.
“It was surreal. To know a house could actually be affordable for me… it was huge. I’d been looking for so long and felt so disappointed before, I thought, this can’t be real.”
Through sweat-equity hours, financial education classes, and program requirements, Gretchen pressed forward. And of course, Mica cheered her on every step of the way.
Finally, the moment arrived. Gretchen got to choose her future Habitat Wake home from a small group of available lots. Her pick? A house in Old Poole Place five minutes down the road from Mica.
“When I walked into this specific house, I started visualizing certain things and I was like, I think this is it. I started tearing up. It was a very happy moment. I'll be so close by to Mica and my Godson and will just be able to be close with the whole family”
Congratulations to Gretchen for her perseverance and her faith in the future. And we are thankful to people like Mica who channel their love into action on behalf of their friends. We wish many years of happiness and memories to these two great friends who have found home with and for each other.
If you—or someone you love—might be the right fit for Habitat Wake, encourage them to apply here: habitatwake.org/apply