WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — In her spare time, Dorothy Foster is putting together scrap books for her kids.

What You Need To Know

  • A program in Winter Haven allows homeowners with detached garages or other buildings to get thousands of dollars to convert those buildings into affordable housing 

  •  The program, through the the Accessory Dwelling Units Grant, gives homeowners five thousand dollars for each room they put in a detached dwelling on their property

  •  So far, only one person has participated in the program, and received 15 thousand dollars for converting a barn into a three-bedroom home

“It’s just little memories of things we used to do, things that I told my kids,” she said.

Forster, a single mom living in Winter Haven, works for the local school board and is doing whatever she can to make a great life for her family and keep those memories in these folders.

“You have the pictures and what was said and just you just bring it back to life,” she said.

Memories are important for Foster because it shows just how far she’s come.

According to Foster, she was homeless for six months living in a shelter this past year in Lakeland.

“No one at the school board knew I was homeless,” said Foster. “And it’s just I showed up for work every day and with a smile on my face and, you know, did what I had to do for my family.”

Now, she lives in a quirky, spacious barn that’s been converted into her home with the help of a grant from the city of Winter Haven and the nonprofit Heart for Winter Haven.

“It’s great to see a family thriving and having something like a barn turn into a home,” said Butch Rahman, the owner of the barn who is leasing the property to Foster.

Rahman originally bought the property because of the home in front of the barn and his realtor told him about a program the city is doing where they give $5,000 for each room a person builds in a detached building for affordable housing, called the Accessory Dwelling Units Grant.

So, after six months of renovations, Rahman made the barn a three-bedroom home and, more importantly, it’s now Foster’s home at a price she can afford.

“Dorothy had, you know, a setback or two,” Rahman said. “And, you know, once you’re in that setback, it’s hard to get out. Sometimes it gets worse and worse. Well, she just needed a helping hand to get out of that and now she has that, and she’s got a beautiful home for her two beautiful kids.”

Which is huge for Foster because she says rent prices are just way out of her budget right now.

Having this place is a dream.

“I can get back to the memories and stuff that our kids used to make, just coming home, telling funny stories again,” Foster said. “It’s nice to be able to have that opportunity to do it again.”

With even more opportunities to add memories to her scrap books.