Leah Boblitt

I was raised in the mountains of North Carolina. My dad's Christmas tree farm, located just across the Virginia line, provided me in-state tuition to Virginia Tech. I am so thankful that I came to VT and in 2017 I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Architecture.During college, I spent a lot of time in local trailer parks with a VT campus ministry. Here, I began to realize the effects of housing instability on the people near the poverty line. Children are especially affected by frequent relocation, some even moving school districts multiple times in a year. After graduating, my husband and I moved to the DC area where I worked at a firm specializing in public transportation infrastructure. Our first pregnancy led us back to Blacksburg just a year later! We love this area for its hiking, kids' activities, and the community we have found.The chance to come back to the trailer park ministry also pushed our move and we decided to live in the trailer park that we previously worked in during college. Some of my neighbors are the people who could benefit from home ownership most. I am so excited to be part of Sequoia. I hope the seeds of change we plant together will grow into a tree, a tree with room for every person in need of a safe and affordable home.