Kelly Donovan with her dog Jax outside their new home in Centerville.
Weekend camping trips on Sandy Neck Beach have long been a tradition in Kelly Donovan’s family. “I grew up camping there with my parents who grew up camping there with their parents,” she said. “It’s a very cool family tradition we’ve been doing for years and years. Now we meet my parents there for fires, dinners, and fishing. It’s our favorite thing to do.”
In relaying the story, it’s understandable why the 25-year-old Donovan has decided to remain in a place that is so tied to her identity. “I grew up here and it feels like home,” she said.
Thanks to Housing Assistance’s help, Donovan has been able to thrive here since graduating from Cape Cod Regional Technical School in 2012. A dental assistant, she took our First-Time Homebuyer Workshop before working with our real estate department to purchase an affordable home in Yarmouth in January 2017.
“It was great,” she said of her first home. “I loved that place. It had everything I wanted, but my fiancée works in Falmouth and we wanted something closer to there and wanted something a little bigger.”
After seeing a property that piqued her interest in Centerville, Donovan reached out to our Director of Real Estate Gael Kelleher this spring to inquire about selling her affordable home and purchasing a market-rate one.
Donovan and her fiancée, Thiago Fonseca, eventually settled on a home nearby in Centerville which has everything they need for their family which includes Thiago’s 11-year-old son and their 2-year-old dog Jax. “We love it,” Donovan said. “It is a blessing…It has enough space and is really homey with a great backyard and a deck for family and friends. I have a 20-minute commute and so does my fiancée. There’s nothing more we want or need. We plan to be here for the long haul.”
None of this, she said, would have been possible without the help of Kelleher and the support of Housing Assistance. “I definitely would not have been able to purchase a home if it were not for you and the programs you offer and for my parents teaching me to save for the future,” Donovan said.
