2019 "What Home Means to Me"
Regional Finalists 

Below are the finalists for the 2019 Housing America "What Home Means to Me" Calendar from the eight NAHRO regions. Congratulations to all the finalists! Thank you for sharing your voice, creativity, and hard work.

Click here to see the winners of the 2019 "What Home Means to Me" contest.

Middle Atlantic Region

Immanuel

10
York Housing Authority
"Whenever I go somewhere exciting far away or even overnight at a friend's house I am always happy to be back in my own home. There's no place like home! Even when I go to visit North Carolina, Philadelphia, or fly to Phoenix, Arizona, where everyone has a pool in their backyard. I love being home afterwards. There's no place like home."

Natasha

14
Puerto Rico Public Housing Administration
"My home for me is my refuge, where I feel safe and protected. It is also my world where I have everything I need: love, trust, and where I receive the discipline that will shape me for the future. A home is where I feel safe and I have everything I need to be happy, an invaluable treasure."

Sean

15
Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County
"My poster explains my life and dreams. My home is my safe place. "

Mountain Plains Region

Isabelle

11
Housing Authority of Billings
"My 'What My Home Means to Me' poster has a shadow person on it that represents me on my heart. You can see there is a key that is one of the few keys that can unlock the lock on my house and that represents safety. The words on my roof are all things I would use to represent what my home means to me. Thanks for reading!"

Aaryonna

12
Aurora Housing Authority
"What home means to me is a safe place where I am loved and where I can eat and be comfortable. I can always be myself and I love all the people around me, where I am not alone, where everyone loves me because of the way I am. If I am hungry, I can just go to the fridge and find something to eat. I can take showers and keep my hygiene up."

Lajia

15
Aurora Housing Authority
"Home means to have fun and feel safe. You shouldn't have to worry about the dangerous world we live in or how somebody feels about you. Just know that your family loves you and they would do nothing to hurt you."

New England Region

Britgette

11
Woonsocket Housing Authority
"When I think of home, I think of being free. I also feel safe and relaxed. Home is the place where I can spend time with my family. Also, I can eat the best food in the world. I'm happy and I play with my siblings, even if we have a couple of arguments, I still adore them. Home also means protection because in the winter it protects me from snow and the cold. Home is so many things I can't describe. "

Nina

12
Dedham Housing Authority
"To me, home is not a house. A home is where a life begins. It's where memories are made that will last a lifetime. It's where you feel loved and cared for. A home is where you feel safest, and where you feel like no matter what, the people that love you will be there at your best and your worst. At home, everyone is equal."

Destiny

15
Newport Housing Authority
"Family is the first thing that comes to mind when I hear home. It's where we build memories. Home is not a place to me, it is shelter. It is also my siblings, parents, and grandpa. We live, love, and laugh everyday. The hugs and emotions I receive by my family makes me feel at home. We may not live under one roof but my love travels with them. My family is my home."

North Central Region

Johnathan

10
New Albany Housing Authority
"Home? What do you see when you hear this word? I see a castle that's safe for everyone and comforting. Where I know that no one and nothing can hurt my family and I. It's everything my family and I need and it's what we make it. What I love about home is its not about how big or how cool your home is, it's just about how you and your family treat it. It's a place where you don't worry about how you look. There are bad things about home but the good things outweigh the bad. Home matters to me and lots of others. It's a positive figure in everybody's life. Home means many things, great things!"

Tazjianna

13
Ypsilanti Housing Commission
"What home means to me is family. The only place I can be myself. Since my father died recently, I've struggled with expressing myself. If it wasn't for my mom, I don't think I would be the person I am today. Being at home lets me escape from the real world. Because outside of my house are where all the judging and fake people are. I just feel like at home I can be myself. Because my family loves me." 

Chicola

16
Winnebago Housing Authority
"Home means a place where you can be who you wanna be and do what you wanna do. Home is a place where you're not judged from who you are and want to be. Home means something to you and me, same for the people who are far away but just like us. We all take something from our home and why it means so much to us. I love my home it's a burst of culture from my native home, though I am yet so far, but it will always be in my heart to represent who I am, even if I may look like the next average person. Home knows who I am to be, even if I'm in the USA I represent both places as my true home. "

Pacific Northwest Region

Ruth

7
Housing Authority of Yamhill County
"My home is where my family is. It's where my parents keep me safe, teach me to be respectful, love others, and serve Jehovah. This drawing is like my home. I love balloons and I've always wanted to float in one. Balloons make me very happy and that's how I feel at home. Very happy! My parents always tell me I'm always floating around but that's because balloons float, they're free. My home lets me be free with warmth, protection, safety, love and fun that my parents give me. That's what home means to me."
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Jannely

13
Yakima Housing Authority
"What a home means to me is much more than a physical location, it's more than a warm bed and a comfy couch. For me it's love and security and connection, a place where I build my memories as well as a way to build my future. In my home I can truly be myself. It doesn't matter if it's big or small, fancy or modest, it's my shelter and my family's sanctuaries. Everyday when I get home my mom receives me with a comforting hug, I go straight to my room which is decorated the way I want to, expressing myself. Sitting in my cozy bed, I start setting my goals to succeed in my life. Every morning when I wake up and look through my window, I love to see my neighborhood so quiet and peaceful and enjoying every minute being at my home with my family watching movies and cooking. I thank to God to call my place my HOME."

Anastasia

17
Housing Authority of Yamhill County
"Home is safety, it's being somewhere you can be yourself. It's being with your family you love and care about."

Pacific Southwest Region

Selea

9
City of Oceanside
"In my poster I wanted to share what is important to me. My life is about what happens inside and outside of my home. My family teaches me how to take good care of myself and how to be a good person. When I leave my home to go to school or hang out with my friends, I always remember what I have learned. My parents show me that love, respect, and being helpful will make a positive difference in life. My family, friends, community, and world are special to me."

Shafiya

13
Oakland
"Home is where I'm happy, love is in the air. Home is a place where I can smell my dad's chicken aroma everywhere, and my mom doing the dishes the best mom in the world. And the smells of coconut lotion dance in my nostrils. There's a little bit of poots, but that's okay (because) we're all humans and we do that some days. Where me plus my siblings whine throughout the day. When you're at home something drives the anger away. There's laughs and yells but no puppy dog tails, and I know there is love, why because I can feel the love bugs. And if I had to stay somewhere for the rest of my days it would surely be home, home drives the hate away. Now if I have to break it down what home means to me it's not just where your heart is, its not just a place you pee, it's where your dreams fly high and let lose your brain."

Emily

14
Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara
"Home to me is a place of serenity. It's a place where I can express myself fully with no fear of judgement. My home is where my creativity is born. Home is where my dreams began, and where my goals are set. Home means to me, that I can have a better life and a colorful future. My home gives me the resources to achieve my goals and dreams. My home provides love, safety, and tranquility. A home is so much more than a mere building, a home is family, love, laughter, sadness, and happiness." 

Southeastern Region

Kiren

5
Huntington West Virginia Housing Authority
"When I am home, I feel happy and safe because I am with my family. The pink house is mine because I am loved and my favorite colors are pink and purple."

Xeniya

12
Huntsville Housing Authority
"Home means love to me because you have a roof over your head, clothes on your body, and food on the table everyday. I love my home because it has silliness, laughter, and care in it. I feel safe with the love because my mom's love is there and my sister Dallas' love is there also. Love is something that means a relationship with two people or more but, there are always another way to love something, and I love home very much."

Ayanna

16
Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority
"My home is the place where good moral values and seeds are planted. These seeds are nourished from day to day, by my mother and grandmother. My home is my safe haven, the place where I can bring my friends over for fellowship, to visit, and to have fun. It is a warm and inviting place for us to chill out and talk. I thank God for the home he has given me. I'm grateful for the love, motivation, and support that I receive here. I am so blessed to call this place home!  "

Southwest Region

Esmeralda

8
Edinburg Housing Authority
"A castle where I feel safe. My home is built with five important things: honesty, respect, trust, communication, and a lot of love. I motivated my mom and she motivated me to study and be a better person everyday."

Chloe

14
Salem Housing Authority
"There is a quote that says, 'A tree has something to say to us; Be still! Be still! Look at me!...Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.' Home means to me where you make it. You don't have to have a big or small house to make it your home. You just have to have family, friends, laughter, and so many other stuff to make it your home. That's why I drew the tree to make it seem like the tree is talking and speaking that quote."

Brittanie

15
Central Texas Housing Consortium
"Home is a place blessed, where I share sadness and happiness with family. It's a place to rest and to be in peace. On the poster I decided to draw the earth and the dark sky as the background with bright stars as well as a home and a drawing of my family. The scripture that I added represents God's home is in heaven and the earth is his footstool, he allows me to rest here until I enter into God's kingdom and his household...in heaven, where there is no sadness and every tear will be wiped away. I will enter into true peace, happiness, and joy in my final resting place, but I'm content where I'm at now until God calls me home. "