I’m still in awe of the fact that last year we qualified for a lead safety program , through the City of Providence, that completely transformed our home!!! They resided our house, put in all new windows, fixed minor repairs, + repainted inside the entire home, and the best part is… it was done for FREE! Yup, for FREE y’all. So if you are interested to hear more about the full story of how my family was blessed EMENSELY, keep reading on, as I know many of you have been eager to hear how it all came about. 😁

In 2016 we purchased this older, two family home, that clearly needed to be resided one day (especially since the color was absolutely dreadful). I knew this home wasn’t where we were going to be forever since it was more of an investment property, but I definitely wanted to have it sided one day. Also, the windows were old, and the draft was terrible in the winter time. But residing and replacing windows are very big undertaking and expense. There was no way that we would have been able to afford these renovations any time soon.

Rewind a little bit, to right before we heard about the program. It was the beginning of the new year, in 2017, where we felt God wanted us to make a very uncomfortable move by leaving the previous church we attended. At the beginning of every new year, many churches, including our previous church, fast for a specific period of time to really hear from God + get fresh direction for the new year. It was after that fast the God made it very clear, speaking to us in multiple ways, that our time there was up, but it wasn’t that simple or easy. My husband was a staffed youth pastor, where we both pastored a group of amazing kids for quite a few years. We loved those teens so much, they were the reason why we stayed there as long as we did. Some people may not ever understand why you need to do something, but we knew we were accountable to God + just had to obey, even though we knew that it would also put us in a financial low for a season. We couldn’t let the comfort + security of finances, and being in a familiar place, deter us from what God wanted us to do, regardless of how difficult it was. 

I am normally the one who gets anxious or scared when there isn’t financial security, but God had given me a supernatural peace about the situation because I was not worried at all, especially since I knew this was what He wanted us to do. So if we were going to leave, I knew that He was going to have to supply our needs. Sure enough, that first week Jeremy stopped getting paid from the church, we received a random check in the mail. The follow week, the same thing, ANOTHER RANDOM CHECK came in. I was completely SHOCKED! I have heard stories + testimonies of this happening to people, but never figured it would happen to me (lol). God proved me wrong, AGAIN. Some other people helped for a season of giving us money or providing us part of their food stamps to help with buying groceries (out of the kindness of their hearts).  

Just for clarity, this was not the only job Jeremy had, but it was the biggest source of income out of all of his places of employment. He was going to become a full-time campus minister at Brown University in the mid-summer, because he was currently just part time, but that left us quite a few months with a huge disparity of monthly income. He continued to hustle, picking up extra shifts at a group home he worked some nights + drove for Lyft in those few months. Also, my business picked up a lot throughout that early spring into the summer as well. Between all of that, it never really felt liked we lacked in anything. It was amazing and a true testament of how God will work things out for good for those who love + trust in Him.

Shortly after we left our previous church, we then started attending the church we are currently apart of. The pastor’s wife + I were talking at their house + she mentioned this lead safety program . She told me about different people who qualified + what work they will do on your home for FREE if you qualify.  The main purpose of the program is to keep young children safe from lead poisoning that could be transmitted from older homes that were painted with lead paint. This program is income based, where you need make enough money for them to know you will be able to sustain your monthly mortgage payments (since you cannot sell your home for 5 years after they do the renovations), but you also can’t make too much money. Mind you, they never specifically told us what that income bracket was, so after we applied, it was just pure faith + hope at that point. You also need to prove you have young children living in your home, especially if there are under the age of one, because the lead safety is for the youngsters. And of course, my little daughter Hope was still under the age of one! (God’s perfect timing)

Sure enough, because we left our previous church, which meant, Jeremy left his staffed position there, it dramatically lowered our income. And since he was still employed with his other jobs, we apparently hit the sweet spot and QUALIFIED FOR THE PROGRAM!!! They started working on it that same year, in the late summer/early fall, right before the cold winter hit (Again… God’s perfect timing!).

So YES, without a doubt, these improvements made a dramatic difference! I’ve only shown pictures of the outside, because the inside was mainly just repainting of what colors + such we previously had; besides them replacing some of our doors + our kitchen floor that was warped. They also did the same to the second floor, where our tenants stay, since we are the owners of the entire home. We are so beyond blessed + grateful for this program and God’s provision over our lives. Without a doubt, we are THANKFUL!!! If you own a home in the City of Providence and have young children (or can prove young children stay there for a significant amount of time), I definitely would suggest applying to this lead safety program . If you do not live in this City, I have heard of other states who do this City program as well, so do some research; who knows, you may qualify! And if you are nervous about taking a leap of faith (in what ever area of life), especially when you know that God is leading you in that direction, just do it! You will be amazed at what happens if you just take that first step.  Much joy, Charity HOPE