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In 2002, Helen Seide, now a resident of North Potomac, was being evicted from a townhouse she was renting. Recently divorced and working long shifts as a nursing assistant, the young mother was struggling to afford childcare for her three young daughters, and rent on the townhome was too expensive.

Seide applied for welfare and moved into a hotel with her children, who were 2, 3 and 5. "You don't really feel the pain when you're going through it when you have kids at that age," said Seide, now 37. "You just do it because you have to do it."

Growing up in a military family, Seide was constantly on the move even before she was evicted. "I struggled with having to move so many times and having to build new friendships, knowing they would have to be broken," Seide said. Nonetheless, the mobile lifestyle carried over into adulthood as she constantly searched for where she belonged. She married not long after she graduated high school, but she said she "picked the wrong kind of guy" — the marriage, at times, turned violent.

"At the end of the day, it pointed back to me and how I felt about myself, and my self esteem," Seide said. "A lot of the reasons why I was so unstable were because I didn't tackle or face my issues, and I was continuing to repeat the cycle."

Seide knew that she didn't want the same life for her children.

After her eviction, she found her way to the Crossway Community in Kensington — which provides education programs as well as on-campus housing for low-income, at-risk families. Thanks to the programs there, as well as programs through the county's Housing Opportunities Commission and a recent cash award through the Affordable Housing Conference of Montgomery County, Seide is on her way to becoming a new homeowner.

Seide was recently awarded $5,000 through the Affordable Housing Conference's annual "Break the Barrier to Home Ownership" contest. Seide, along with Diane and Edwin Jackson of Olney, Gloria Lopez of Gaithersburg and Sommer Copley of Rockville, were honored with cash to go toward their first homes at the 18th Annual Affordable Housing Summit on Friday. The Jacksons and Lopez were awarded $5,000, while Copley was awarded $7,500.

The Affordable Housing Conference of Montgomery County, in its 18th year, has awarded about 20 families with about $120,000 for homes over the past 10 years through the award program, according to Barbara Goldberg-Goldman, founder and co-chair of the conference. None of those, according to Goldberg-Goldman, have ever defaulted or had a late home loan payment.

All of the contest winners were awarded based on essays they wrote on the topic of what homeownership means to them. For Seide, owning a home means finally being able to settle in one place after a life that was, at times, turbulent.

"Owning a home is like having strong roots in this land, in this country that I love," Seide said. "I think moving from place to place is more traumatic than parents would like to talk about."

Seide has now been renting an apartment in North Potomac for five years. She credits her success with taking advantage of county resources — including using a career counselor who encouraged her to go back to school to become a medical coder. "Basically you have to try to go fish, or you're not ever going to catch a fish," Seide said. "You have to put a line out there."

Seide also credits her success to her time at Crossway. "The most important thing about what Crossway Community does is that it's an educational development program for young mothers with children who have decided they want to change and create a better future," said Kathleen Guinan, CEO of the group. At Crossway, a "Family Leadership School" trains young mothers in skills like economic literacy, health and safety and career development, and their children can attend on onsite Montessori school.

Goldberg-Goldman called Seide's story inspiring. "Helen is an example and a role model for other individuals in similar situations," Goldberg-Goldman said. "She had the resolve and strength to take advantage of all the programs offered here in Montgomery County."

Seide plans on using the cash award toward her first home, along with savings from an escrow account set up through Family Self-Sufficiency program, a federally funded program run through HOC which provides intensive mentoring for low-income families. She will be awarded the money she has saved through the five-year program when she completes it later this month.

Seide is getting ready to apply for home loans. She hopes a new home will provide stability and consistency for her three girls, who she describes as great students, avid basketball players, and "not girly girls." "They know how to hold their own and they're very confident," Seide said. "I'm excited about this new venture we're going to experience together as a family."