Habitat turns over keys to 13th, 14th homes in The Village

Two Yuma families will be living the American dream when they move into their brand-new homes built by Habitat for Humanity.

The Madrill and the Miranda families took the keys and opened the doors to their new houses at a Habitat subdivision called The Village, South 18th Drive and 27th Street, Saturday morning.

A dedication ceremony celebrated the completion of the two houses, which were built with the help of donations and volunteers from Yuma's Habitat for Humanity.

Alejandro Miranda, his wife, Mercedes, their son, Alejandro Jr., and their granddaughter, Yarely, will be living in their first new home.

"We're very excited and anxious to move in," said Alejandro. "We'd like to thank everybody that contributed to building the house. We're very grateful to everybody."

Francisco Pizano, his wife, Elizabeth, their daughters, Diana, 13, Iliane, 15, and Isabella, 11, are living in a trailer and will soon call a three-bedroom house home. "It is beautiful," said Francisco.

"We are happy and excited," said Elizabeth, whose words were translated by her daughter, Iliane.

However, the two families were not given the houses without putting a little sweat of their own into them. The Mirandas and the Madrills put 500 hours of work each into their three-bedroom, two-bath houses.

"We only worked on the weekends," said Alejandro, "Saturdays and sometimes on Sunday. We put in eight hours when we came in on ... regular working days."

Alejandro is a dock foreman for Priority Cooling, a produce shipping company.

"Right now we are staying in my mom's house," he said, "because she is 80 some years old, and we got to take care of her. The house is not too big, so that is why we put in an application (to Habitat) and we qualified."

At Saturday's ceremony, Alejandro said it feels great to know that they will have a house big enough for the whole family.

"My children will have their own room - more space where they can come out and play. My wife wants to put flowers in the front. ... We have lots of plans."

The Madrill family said they are excited to move into an actual house. "There is more space in the house and it is more comfortable in the house," said Isabella, who translated for Elizabeth.

Alice Draper, project coordinator for Habitat for Humanity, said, "It's been a lot of fun. I feel really good about it. I think the houses turned out really well, and it was a little bit of a challenge to get them finished up before the heat hit. But the weather has really cooperated."

Habitat is an ecumenical Christian organization that works to stamp out substandard housing in the world, said business manager for Habitat, Debra Hunter. "And we are on every continent and in the United States. We've been here for 12 years in Yuma.

"We've worked with the homeowners from the ground up," said Hunter. "I know they are getting ... into a better-quality home, and I think it will be a really nice addition to our Yuma community."

Habitat for Humanity chooses potential homeowners through a committee process. "We call for applications once a year," said Hunter. "They are judged based on what the mission of Habitat is."

They have to have good credit and work history, and must be willing to put 500 hours of work into building their homes, as well as pay back the mortgages on the houses, said Hunter.

For the past six months, both families have put in the work, the sweat and the commitment to make their dreams of owning a home come true.

"It's a good feeling knowing that you are building something that you will have for a long time for your family," said Alejandro.


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Jennifer Lovell can be reached at
jlovell@yumasun.com or 539-6849.