In honor of Women’s History Month we want to start off by celebrating with a person who embodies faithfulness, kindness, caring, and neighborliness: Shell Stafford.
In January, she marked a massive milestone: she completed her mortgage and now owns her home outright.
Shell credits her mother, Dora, as her inspiration – including her goal of becoming a homeowner. “I could do a TED talk on the rules of life through my mom’s lens,” Shell says. “One of her core rules, something she said to us kids over and over again, was: always pay your rent. She recognized that having a place in the community, with neighbors who surround you, was an essential part of keeping life together. Having that footing was critical and would help you out even when things got tough. ” She knew then that not just living somewhere but establishing a sense of place was important.
“My mom said for years she wanted to own her own home,” Shell remembers. For over a decade, her mother worked quietly until she achieved that dream. Now, Shell has followed in her footsteps.
If you know Shell, you know that she has worked quietly and diligently up to this moment, all the while serving other people day in and day out. Over the years, she has served in administration, accounting, in resident services, and now as our Housing Services Manager, as a foundational member of the FCS team.
In every role, Shell has left a deep impact on others thanks to her wisdom and steadfast support. Truly, FCS and South Atlanta would not be nearly the same without her. Her own value for rootedness and community shapes everything she does at FCS, and she sees homeownership as one way to deepen the work she does with FCS.
“I want every person who comes through our doors to know that there’s a path for them. Every person we work with is in some stage of the process towards acquiring their own home, whether it’s a rental, or eventually if they’re pursuing homeownership, too. Wherever a person is, I try to explain what the next step is for them to achieve their goal,” she says.
Shell has faithfully been taking steps to reach her own goal of homeownership. We couldn’t be more grateful for the example she sets every day. It is our honor to celebrate with her now.
