Owning a home helps mom dream big and complete her nursing degree

When Lisa Beaman first heard about York Habitat for Humanity, she was living in a roach- and rodent-infested apartment in York with her husband and three children. At the time, the idea of owning a home felt more like a long-shot dream than an achievable goal.

​Lisa walked across the stage at Saint Joseph’s University in Lancaster in June 2025 and received her diploma, an Associate of Science in Nursing. The moment felt a major milestone toward her long-time dream of becoming a nurse practitioner.  

It was one she couldn’t have imagined just a few years earlier, when she was living in a roach-infested apartment in York with her husband and three children. At that point in her life, she wondered if she’d ever be able to get ahead. Her credit score was low, the credit card bills seemed to just keep growing, and her college dreams had gone on hold with the birth of her first son.  

In 2018, a friend of her mother’s told her about York Habitat for Humanity and the opportunity to own her first home. She decided to give it a shot. 
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“I thought, the worst they can tell me is no, right?” she says.  

Building a foundation and a future

​Lisa applied. Then she got the call from York Habitat Family Services Manager Terri Abruzzese. She had been approved. That moment marked the beginning of a new season of life not just for Lisa, but for her entire family. From the very beginning, Lisa found encouragement and support through the York Habitat program.  

“I really enjoyed working with Terri. To this day, we still keep in contact,” she says. 

The process certainly wasn’t easy. One of Lisa’s biggest struggles was opening up about her finances and attending budgeting meetings. She sealed her credit cards in envelopes and began planning for bigger expenses, holidays, and birthdays.  

By the time Lisa moved into her Chestnut Street house in 2020, she had paid off her credit cards and had enough savings to fully furnish the new home. Through her 225 sweat equity hours volunteering with York Habitat, she had also learned invaluable home repair and maintenance skills.  
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“Now I can fix my drywall, paint, simple little things that actually come in handy in the house, especially when you have kids,” she says. I can even put together a door frame.”  

‘I know I have the support’

​As she worked through credit repair, budgeting sessions, and sweat equity hours, Lisa was also working as a medical assistant and attending college classes online. The stability of owning her own home made it possible for Lisa to attend nursing school full-time and work part-time.  

“Having a home, knowing it was a steady place to live, was just so much less stressful, as far as making time to be able to go to school and not have to work as much to pay my bills,” she says.  

With her associates degree now in hand, Lisa is preparing to take the next step toward her ultimate goal of being a nurse practitioner. On July 6, she’ll begin work as a registered nurse (RN) in the Neurosurgery department at Lancaster General Hospital. She’ll care for patients with brain injuries, strokes, and seizures.  

In the fall she plans to continue working toward her bachelor’s degree, then her nurse practitioner license. Eventually, she hopes to work in labor and delivery or pediatrics as a nurse practitioner.  

“I don’t want to stop,” she says. “I know I have the support and I know I have financial means to be able to keep doing school.” 
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With school done for the summer though and a few weeks before her new job begins, she’s looking forward to taking some extra time with her family, painting her daughter’s room and spending time with her Chestnut Street neighbors.