Blog

At Home with Hawa

Dylan Novacek June 27, 2022

Cedar View Resident Spotlight. Written by Dylan Novacek, Content Specialist

“I remember when Hassan started learning how to walk. At first, I thought he was someone else’s kid. I just couldn’t believe that my son was walking,” Hawa smiled and laughed. “I’ll never forget how breathtaking it was. Hassan is growing every day, and I get to watch it happen in our own home.”

Hawa and HassanEver since Hassan was a newborn, he and his mother Hawa have called Beacon’s Cedar View apartments their home. With deeply affordable rent and onsite support services, Hawa has grown alongside her son. Since becoming a new mother, Hawa has embraced change and opportunity as she looks to build the life she has always wanted for herself and Hassan.

“Being at Cedar View has helped me so much with raising my son. The rent is so affordable to the point where I have more opportunities and more wiggle room in my budget,” Hawa shared. “The services offered in the building are so helpful too. I am not alone in parenthood, and I have a great team behind me!”

“When Hawa first moved here, she was juggling college, work, and motherhood. To have all those things on her plate and to see her take that all on was so impressive,” expressed Alyssa Bergstedt, a Senior Family Advocate from Simpson Housing Services’ Young Parent Program. “Hearing Hawa’s goals and visions, and then seeing her actually do it, has been so empowering to me as one of her advocates. Her resiliency and drive are inspiring!”

Alyssa and the service staff from Simpson Housing Services, our onsite service provider at Cedar View, walk alongside residents like Hawa in their journey to stability. Staff help connect residents to employment, education, and other resources within the community. For young parents exiting instability and homelessness, resources like this help individuals like Hawa lay the foundation for continued stability.

“Having these services is everything,” Hawa asserted, reflecting on her time working alongside staff like Alyssa. “Every resource, every piece of knowledge, and every story they share with me is so valuable. What I have right now is the support I need and want. It makes me feel good inside knowing that there are a bunch of people supporting me and having my back with everything I do.”

Whether she’s asking the staff for advice on how to reign in a rambunctious toddler, or if she is just needing someone to talk to after a long day, Hawa feels so thankful to be in a place where she can go to work each day, work towards her college degree and, most importantly, raise Hassan.

“Home for Hassan means peace of mind. It’s somewhere he can feel relaxed and be with me,” Hawa beamed. “One great thing about being at Cedar View is knowing that Hassan will always have memories of stability from here on out.”

Hawa and Hassan When Hawa first shared her story with us in 2019, she had recently moved to Cedar View after having Hassan and moving out of Nicollet Square, youth supportive housing from Beacon. Reflecting on her journey, Hawa is proud of how far she’s come and feels she’s doing even better now than before.

“The highlight of the last few years has been raising my son the way I want,” Hawa continued. “I want him to grow up to be unique and different from everyone else. I know growing up will come with challenges for him. But at least at home, he will know how I’ve raised him and how he lives.”

“It’s important for a new parent to have a space of their own,” Alyssa added. “To have a constant and to know this is your home you can afford is a game changer. No parent should have to worry about where their child will lay their head at night. And no parent should have to worry about making their rent.”

Thanks to Hawa’s deeply affordable home at Cedar View, she isn’t spending her time worrying about the next paycheck and isn’t struggling to afford the essentials like groceries and childcare. Instead, Hawa is in a place where she can work towards goals like finishing her degree and watch on – sometimes anxiously – as Hassan runs around their home.

Unfortunately, there are too many young families like Hawa’s who are experiencing homelessness and housing instability. Too often, families are forced to make tough decisions on whether they buy the essentials or pay their rent. This is why Beacon is committed to building deeply affordable, family supportive housing throughout the broader Twin Cities metro area.

“There are people out there just like me, struggling with housing and trying to raise a child for the first time. We need more supportive housing for young families because being a new parent comes with all sorts of new responsibilities,” Hawa explained. “Homes like Cedar View help ease off a lot of worries for a new parent.”

Cedar View Exterior “To have a supportive team that genuinely has your best interest at heart is so important,” Alyssa added.

At Beacon, we have 12 buildings like Cedar View (pictured left) which offer onsite support services to residents. It takes $1,000 a month from donors to pay for case management staff through our service providers across each of these supportive homes. As we continue to create more deeply affordable homes with onsite services that benefit families like Hawa’s, it will take continued support from our collaborative.

“Looking into the future, I want to get my degree and give back to the community. Maybe even buy a house one day,” Hawa smiled, dreaming of all the opportunities that are set before her. “Despite all I’ve been through, here I am. Because of my own home at Cedar View, I get more opportunities to achieve my goals and watch Hassan grow.”


At Beacon, we believe that home is the foundation for life. Will you help us achieve our vision that all people have a home? Learn how we’re working to create deeply affordable homes with services focused on young families at Gladstone Crossing and see how you can get involved today.