2025 Partner Families
Home #67 - Radke Family
Imagine waking up every day feeling unsafe and claustrophobic. No room to move, no privacy, unsure if today is the day the tub falls through the floor or the frayed wiring finally gives way and, God forbid, causes a fire.
It’s a stress that doesn’t allow you to focus on the things that matter, like family and building a brighter future. For Isiah and Nicole Radke, their teenage son Tyreese, and their tween daughter Lexi, it’s their reality living in their cramped, two-bedroom, rundown and unsafe rental.
Isiah’s manufacturing job is hard work. To unwind, he and Tyreese play video games. Nicole works in housekeeping during the week and teaches Sunday school at their church to keep her grounded. Tyreese has the big dreams that most 13-year-olds share: not quite sure what he wants to be, just that he knows he wants to change the world. At 11 years old, Lexi fills the space she occupies with love in the form of singing and vibrant drawings.
Becoming a Habitat partner family changed everything for the Radkes. Working with the Financial Opportunity Center (FOC), they learned how to budget, save, and shift their spending habits.
While they already fill their home with love and faith, for the Radkes, home soon will mean safety. Security. The Radkes and the Habitat volunteers aren’t just building a house. They’re creating a home where Isiah, Nicole, Tyreese, and Lexi can have a safe, spacious place of their own where they can grow into the people they were meant to be.
Home #66 - Agner Family
Standing in the batter’s box, Liam’s eyes narrow with determination. The nine-year old’s intensity gives way to a smile, melting his mom’s heart. With his twin brother Luke watching from the stands, this is Liam’s time to shine.
Liam’s mom Sara adjusts his walker. His cerebral palsy isn’t getting in the way of his determination to get a hit for his Miracle League Braves baseball team. As his on-field “buddy,” it’s Sara’s job to help him get that hit and race to first base.
It’s an endless cycle of Luke cheering on Liam and Liam cheering on Luke as he bounces from soccer to football to baseball, with Sara as their constant. But juggling her job at Best Buy Distribution Center along with the challenge of raising twin boys, Sara’s life is anything but ordinary.
Where they live doesn’t accommodate who they are as a family. Narrow doorways and sharp turns make it difficult for Liam to move around with his walker. A close friend suggested Sara contact Habitat so they could help her, like they had so many others, and offer them an affordable, ADA-approved place to call home.
Sara and the Habitat volunteers aren’t just building a house. They’re creating a home that provides long-term security and safety and a place for their little family full of love to thrive.
Home #65 - Johnson Family
What’s a mother to do when she spends all her time, all her focus, building a strong family foundation for her two boys, only to have the actual foundation of their living space fail around them?
For Maria Johnson, the small duplex she and her sons, Trey and Mason, have called home for more than a decade was finally starting to succumb to the river. Like so many, being in the flood zone means
eventually the water wins. A shifting foundation, cracks growing into holes and bats frequently finding their way into their living space.
A small space that gets smaller as the boys get bigger is one thing. A small space that’s crumbling around them is something else. And with rental rates so high, moving was out of the question. After being encouraged by one of her close friends, a Habitat volunteer, Maria applied for a Habitat home.
When they found out they were selected as a Habitat family, the entire family was overwhelmed. “My boys immediately began making plans for their new rooms,” she laughs. For Maria, home means something deeper. It means safety. It means a place where family and friends can gather. And most of all, it means that she’s living the dream of providing her children with a home of their own.
For Maria, she and the Habitat volunteers aren’t just building a house. They’re creating a home where she and Trey and Mason can move, grow, and thrive.
Home #64 - Greiner Family
Chris Greiner’s journey is one of unwavering resilience, love, and the quiet strength of a mother who never gave up. Born and raised in Findlay, her life has been anything but easy, but her heart has always been full of hope, determination, and an unbreakable drive to create a better life for her family.
She raised her twin children, Josh and Tosh, as a single parent, always working full-time - sometimes even holding down two jobs just to make ends meet. Despite the challenges, Chris made sure that her kids had everything they needed: food, shelter, and love. Even though she worked tirelessly, the dream of owning her own home always felt out of reach, a distant star just beyond her grasp.
When Chris was selected to become a Habitat homeowner, she was in complete shock. It felt surreal. She spent years working so hard, and now, after so many setbacks, she was finally going to have a home of her own, a place where her children, her grandchildren, and even her cat could thrive in a space that was hers and hers alone.
"This home will be mine. It’s everything I’ve worked for, and I’m so incredibly grateful.”
Home #63 - Gault Family
For seven years, Amanda Gault and her 12-year-old daughter, Joan, called her parents’ basement home. The space was full of love, but it wasn’t their own.
Amanda dreamed of giving Joan her own room, a place where she could hang out with friends, decorate how she wanted, and just be herself. Finding that space felt impossible. The houses Amanda could afford to purchase needed significant repairs - more than she could take on. The stress of not having their own home weighed heavily on her.
Amanda’s mom had been urging her to look into Habitat for quite some time. Finally, in January 2024, Amanda took a leap of faith. From that first meeting with Habitat, Amanda began to feel hope again. She and Joan learned how to manage their spending with guidance from the Financial Opportunity Center (FOC). Together, they started to feel more in control of their future.
Now, as construction is about to begin, Amanda and Joan are looking forward to what’s ahead. This home will be more than a place to live. It’s a fresh start, a foundation for their future, and a space where they can create new memories together. It will be "a place to call home.”
Home #62 - Summers Family
For Kara Summers and her two daughters Royal Grace, 10, and Evion Leigh, 8 the idea of “home” once felt more like a wish than a certainty. But through grit, faith, and the support of Habitat for Humanity, their story has transformed into one of triumph and promise - a testament to what’s possible when hope and hard work come together.
Kara works as a State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA), caring for others even as she dreams of becoming a nurse herself. Despite her determination, life has thrown its share of obstacles their way. For a while they were residents of Hope House, which gave them a roof over their heads when they needed it most. “But I was constantly worried about what would happen next,” Kara remembers. “Affordable housing in Findlay was either way too expensive or simply unavailable.”
One afternoon, Kara came across a newspaper article about Habitat for Humanity’s Financial Opportunity Center (FOC). Something about the program resonated with her. “I told myself, ‘What do I have to lose?’” she recalls. “I reached out to Dustin Fuller, and that email changed everything.” Kara became the very first FOC coaching client in 2021. After paying down debts and stabilizing her employment, Kara and her girls were selected as a Habitat Partner Family.
“They have taken a chance on me,” Kara says. “They have seen something in me that I didn’t even see in myself. They showed me I could build the life I wanted and gave me the tools to do it.”
For the Summers family, their new home will mean security, stability, and a place to grow. “Our biggest dream is to have a place where my girls can always come back to,” Kara explains. “It’s more than building a house, it’s about building stability and a future.”