Shawn and Jessica Avery met when they were students at Sandwich High School, and they love Cape Cod. Now adults with two sons diagnosed with autism, they want to keep their boys in the school systems where they feel comfortable and have the support they need.
The Averys rented a home in Sandwich for many years and then one in Mashpee, but they yearned for a home of their own, even while wondering if it was realistic. “As a teacher, I make a decent salary, but the cost of purchasing a home was just not feasible for us,” said Shawn.
Shawn Avery shot this photo of his family’s home last fall when the northern lights were visible.
They remembered a friend who had won a housing lottery in Sandwich some years back. “It was something that just kind of always stuck in the back of our minds,” he said. “It was something that we started to look into more as we wanted to have a place where we could settle down. The house that we were renting at the time wasn’t in great shape and we wanted to make a home for our boys and not have to worry about shuffling from house to house or rent prices going up.”
The first time the family applied for a Housing Assistance lottery for a Marstons Mills home, things didn’t go their way. “We were picked dead last for that one,” he said. “I’m sure many people would have felt like we did, that this was going to be the start of some disappointment.”
Things went better when they applied in October 2023 for a three-bedroom house under construction in Falmouth. “We were the very first ones picked,” he said. “I saw the look of shock that my wife had when our number came up. It was an amazing moment to know that we were going to have a place that we could settle into and call home.”
Shawn said the application process went smoothly. “There’s definitely a lot of ducks that you have to get in a row and make sure that everything is squared away and above board, but I felt that everyone was super helpful anytime that I had questions about anything.”
The builder even made some minor modifications to make the house safer for the boys. The family moved in at the end of April 2024.
“It’s still tough to make ends meet, and it’s not like we’re now swimming in money, but it’s a dream come true to have a stable place for our boys that we can settle into and not have to worry about having to go somewhere else because somebody is selling their house or looking to up the rent. We’re just extremely thankful for the opportunity that Housing Assistance provided us.”
To learn more about Housing Assistance ownership and rental lotteries, visit haconcapecod.org/program-services/find-housing
