Jane Canlobo finds herself in this exact situation but she has never let these circumstances bring her down. Always an optimist, Jane has an enviable inner strength that has kept her going through the various upheavals of her life, and finding her ideal home in a northeast condominium has undoubtedly made the burden lighter.

Her two-bedroom, two-bath 857-square-foot unit in Taralake Place in the community of Taradale has been a perfect fit for Jane and her identical twins, Matthew and Zachary.

Raising twin boys can be really difficult, she says, and there are days when she feels like the Flames’ Jarome Iginla, who is always being double-teamed by the opposition. Not that her twins body-check their mom into the boards, but they can be a handful. “They are very good boys and I wanted to raise them in an envi­ronment that is totally safe,” says Jane.

She says finding her home in Taralake Place was a great stroke of luck. Not only is it affordable, conveniently located in a new neighbourhood with nearby schools, it also offers her a sense of safety and security that she says she had never felt in her previous condo.

“I used to live in a flat just off the C-Train station and the front door led directly to the street, I never felt completely safe in that environment, it’s almost like you always had to look behind you before going inside the house,” she tells Condo Living.

Moving to Taralake Place last May she said proved to be the best thing that could happen for her. The family-friendly surroundings have given her a safe haven, where her kids can play with children their own age in the same building, neighbors are friendly and where school is just a two-minute drive away.

“I chose Taralake Place, first of all because it is in a neighbourhood where I had plenty of friends whom I can turn to for support, it’s near to everything we need and there will even be a new shopping mall to be built around the corner, and of course it’s affordable yet with a great sense of style,” she points out.

Taralake Place by Renascence Developments consists of two separate four-storey buildings and features 145 apartment-style condominiums with a wide selection of one-bedroom, one-bedroom-plus-den, two-bedroom, and two-bedroom-plus-den plans to choose from. The exterior has a very American Colonial look to it, consis-tent with the Old South architec-tural theme of Taralake subdivision.

But most importantly for Jane, the condo is designed with young families in mind. “There aren’t many condominiums nowadays that take into account families with children, and we were very lucky to find this one,” she says. “We also got a break that prices weren’t as steep as they are now when we bought this.”

Her unit has elegant nine-foot ceilings as a standard, which she says gives her home a nice, spacious feel. “We were very lucky to find this, utilities costs are fixed which makes it easy on the budget, it is maintenance-free and there is plenty of storage space available, what more can we ask for?”

Despite the daily tribulations of her life as a single mom, Jane, who emigrated from the Philippines more than a decade ago, says she still feels blessed. “I am living my dream to have my own house, some-thing I could never have been able to afford in the Philippines,” she says.

The community of Taradale is perfect for young families, with public and separate elementary schools nearby and easily accessible to public transportation. Recreational opportunities in nearby Village Square are readily available, the Peter Lougheed Centre is ten minutes away, and supermarkets are also conveniently close by.

Because it is a young community, there is a palpable youthful zest in the community where residents go all out to decorate their homes during Halloween and Christmas. Jane says she enjoyed taking her boys out trick-or-treating.

“We really love this condo and this neighbourhood, this is where we belong,” she says. CL