Connita was born in Kankakee, IL and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. She came to Champaign to help care for her mother who had cancer. Caring for her mother led her to a career as a CNA. She has worked to care of others for over ten years. Connita recently went back to school to become an RN.
After adopting her son, she wanted to give him the security of growing up in his own home. She wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to afford a home as she was working full time, going to college and caring for her son.
“I have been renting a house for five years learning what it takes to live in a home. The different bills and house problems that come up have taught me what it takes to live in a house. I feel God was preparing me for the next season in my life and for that I am grateful. Habitat for Humanity has been a blessing to my son and me. I never grew up in a home with a yard. My friends and I played in parking lots or streets. This is why it is important to me to raise my son in a home, with a yard, where he can run around and play. I want him to have somewhere he can call home forever. This will be the house that he will grow up in and go to college from and much more.”
The Sayles home will be the 63rd home built by Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County.