Friday, Aug. 06, 2010

COMMUNITY Home where Habitat for Humanity's heart is

Nonprofit organization, volunteers help local couple realize dream

Lily Guerrero, 10, attended a party on July 24 -- The Habitat for Humanity painting party.

Lily, whose own family benefitted from the Habitat for Humanity program several years ago, was all smiles as she rolled purple paint onto a wall in one of the bedrooms.

Lily and her co-worker, 10-year-old Amber Badillo, were just two of approximately 12 people working to quickly finish painting the interior of a Dove Street home before the flooring contractors came in on Monday.

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian ministry founded on the conviction that "every man, woman and child should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live." Its goal is to build simple, decent and affordable homes for people who could not otherwise afford their own place.

Lily and her fellow Habitat for Humanity volunteers worked alongside future homeowners Susan and Kevin Castillo who were busy scraping wallpaper, spackling walls, priming ceilings and painting throughout the house.

The Castillos paused for a few moments to explain how they got hooked up with the program; "(Habitat volunteer) Sandy (Lemas) is a friend of my mom's," Susan said. "We were really in need of a home and Sandy was telling my mom that Habitat was coming up and that we really needed to put the application in. At first, I was kind of doubtful that we'd be eligible for (a Habitat for Humanity home)."

Kevin Castillo was more assured, "I had faith in it. I really felt that it was going to happen. Right from the get up, I felt 'this is gonna work' cause we were just about ready to get a loan. In fact, we did get a loan for another house. It didn't work out and then this came up."

Susan interjected; "God just had a bigger and better plan," she said through a few grateful tears. "He opened the door for this and I feel so blessed."

Kevin added, "For 10 or 12 years now we've been going to church and we really believe that God's been moving for us, and this is just ..." he paused reflectively. "It couldn't work any better. The loan, the credit, the work, the way Habitat's been helping us; it just could not have worked better."

Like all of the other beneficiaries of the Habitat program, the Castillos are expected to contribute 500 hours of work to Habitat projects. Kevin, who is going to open a business called Cornerstone Yard Care, has performed yard work on at least six of the 11 properties that Habitat Westside is currently working on.

The Castillos are also required to work diligently on the home that they are going to occupy.

Ned Ryan, who helps to coordinate the Westside Chapter of Habitat explained.

"We give the homeowners work to do during the week -- like the prep for the painting. Kevin and Susan have been working on that. They scraped all the acoustical ceiling off. We kind of give them homework assignments," Ryan said with a smile.

According to Ryan, the homeowners on the different Habitat for Humanity houses get to know each other while working on the various properties.

"They become kind of a community within a community and they help each other out and things like that," he said. So, we like to foster that."

As the Castillos got back to work in the living room, young Lily Guerrero continued rolling purple paint onto the walls of the bedroom where the Castillo's daughter would soon sleep.

Years before, another Habitat for Humanity volunteer had done much the same for her.