My name is Rachel Storey. I was born in Detroit, MI, to Steve and Cindy Storey. I have two sisters. My Dad taught tennis for a living and my sisters and I all played tennis competitively. At 10 years old, my parents moved us down to central Florida in order to have us play tennis year round and to start participating in tennis tournaments.
Once in Florida, my Dad, Steve, taught at Amre Sammakia’s Tennis Academy in Lake Mary.
My sisters and I started training at the academy. We stayed in Lake Mary for one year. I was 10 years old when we moved to Eustis and wasn’t too sure about growing up in such a rural area. I definitely wasn’t used to seeing the country with cows grazing the open pastures and seeing road signs that state bear crossing area. It was a big change and at first, I wasn’t fond of it, but it grew on me and I began to appreciate the small town of Eustis.
I loved tennis and had a passion for competing in tournaments. I went to college on a full-ride tennis scholarship. After college, I worked in a few restaurants and decided to go back to school to become a cosmetologist. I got my cosmetologist license and worked at a salon.
My little boy, Jackson, was such a blessing from the Lord. Around the time Jackson was 18 months old, I moved back in with my parents. They helped me get back on my feet and gave me encouragement. I found a job at a salon in Mt. Dora as a cosmetologist, and then later as an administrative assistant.
Little by little, and piece by piece, God was picking up my broken pieces and putting me back together. While working as an administrative assistant, I was offered a job at a State Farm Office as an insurance sales representative. I didn’t have any experience in insurance but knew that I could sell anything.
During this time, I had been praying about finding a house. I had been working hard over the last few years to support Jackson and guide him in the right direction. Jackson and I have lived in my parent’s house since December of 2015 and I finally felt that I was stable enough to provide on my own. I wanted to find a place that my son, Jackson, and I could call home.
I was looking at homes in the area and everything that I found really didn’t match my budget or the area wasn’t safe. I had heard about Habitat for Humanity years ago and knew that my church, the Cross, in Mt. Dora, had participated in volunteering sweat hours and donations on several homes before. I looked on the Habitat for Humanity website and saw that they were currently accepting applications for a 3 bedroom/ 2 bathroom house. I called the office in the Villages and I immediately filled out the paper work over the weekend and turned it in the next week. I was told that Habitat would hold the house for me until I went to all the classes needed for the additional assistance.
I was able to find a lender and get pre-approved for the house. God led me to the right people at the right timing and I am beyond thankful to be able to have a house of my own. Jackson is so excited to have a place that we can call home. I have a promising future at State Farm and will continue to work hard and I look forward to career growth opportunities.
