The Seagle Family StoryBaxter’s 2025 Habitat Home
Before her Habitat home, Katherine was doing everything right — working hard, raising three girls, paying her rent on time — and still, the roof over her head kept letting her down. A stubborn bathroom leak had damaged her neighbor’s ceiling, and she was the one left to cover the repairs. The house itself was shifting, opening cracks in her living room ceiling. Mold crept into a water-damaged utility closet. Drafty windows quietly drove up her bills every month. She was paying good money for a home that never felt secure — the opposite of the stability she wanted for her family.
But even in the middle of all that uncertainty, Katherine kept looking forward. Not just for herself, but for her three girls. As she put it as she was completing her personal finance and homeownership classes: “I look forward to having a solid and secure well-built home for my family… My daughters and I are looking forward to learning what it means to be a responsible homeowner. Together, we will learn the skills to take care of our home and be a light in our community. I am so appreciative of this opportunity.”
At the time, Katherine had spent two years working as an accountant, building her career one steady step at a time while raising her girls and holding onto hope that something better was possible.
In 2025, thanks to Baxter’s generosity, that hope finally had a front door. Katherine and her daughters walked into a home that was truly theirs.
And since then, Katherine hasn’t just settled into a new house, she’s kept building a better life for herself and her family. She recently stepped into a new role as an Accounts Payable Specialist, in a job where she feels valued and sees real room to grow. Her daughters are growing too, right along with her: one is off building her future at College of Lake County, and the other is stepping into her senior year of high school — a milestone Katherine now gets to watch unfold from a home that’s finally steady beneath her family’s feet.
It’s easy to talk about homeownership in big terms: equity, generational wealth, stability. But Katherine’s favorite thing about her new home is something much smaller: a quiet little corner with a bench and a few flowers. Nothing fancy. The kind of thing most visitors would walk right past. But it’s hers. A small, peaceful spot that belongs only to her family. She says they love coming home just to see it. It’s just a small, quiet reminder that this isn’t just a house. It’s home. A home that exists because Baxter believed in the power of showing up for the families in the communities where its employees live and work—and partnered with Lake-McHenry Habitat for Humanity to help make it happen.
Join Baxter Build 2026
This August 10–14, 2026, Baxter’s volunteers will pick up their hammers again for a brand-new Habitat for Humanity build in Round Lake Beach. Somewhere out there is another family living the story Katherine used to live—the leaks, the drafts, the worry. And because of Baxter, they’re about to get their own sanctuary, their own bench and flowers, their own place to call home.
This opportunity is exclusively for Baxter employees. Join us for a morning or afternoon shift—or sign up for both for a full day! We can’t wait to see you there.