(Seguin) – Although the COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on a lot of things, it did not put a hold on the ability for one local group to make the dreams of four local families come true.
In an incredibly detailed and orchestrated plan, the volunteers of the Guadalupe Valley Habitat for Humanity late Friday afternoon managed to surprise the families with the news that they were selected as the newest homeowners for the non-profit organization.
Madeline Zwicke, the executive director for Guadalupe Valley Habitat for Humanity, says each of the families, who all this time have been working toward being selected, were simply told to park in front of the Habitat Store on West Court Street and wait in their vehicles until someone came out to talk to them. Thinking it was simply a plan for social distancing, the families waited patiently. That is until, the store’s front doors opened with Zwicke sharing the great news of their selection and as members of the family selection committee followed behind carrying balloon bouquets placing them onto the hoods of their cars.
Zwicke says the honks, the clapping, the yelling and the tears of joy that followed all made the hard work worth it.
“There’s a lot that goes into processing our applications. We review all the financials. We do background checks. We do home visits and each time, we have interactions with the families, they keep saying ‘oh, I’m so surprised you are still working on the applications during this time. We figured we wouldn’t have an answer until like June or July because of COVID-19.’ Our family selection committee, they are really the heartbeat of all of this. We just all got together and we said no, it’s important to provide these families hope right now at this time and so we are going to keep working through processing all of these applications and so this committee, they have just done such a phenomenal job with just staying on top of it. We had four different Zoom meetings which were pretty intensive in the last month in a half just to get everything lined up for today. So, we called up the families and we told them that we need them to come in to sign more paperwork and to answer some more interview questions. But as you know, that’s not the case. We are about to tell them that they are future homeowners, “said Zwicke.
This was the first time that the local Habitat group surprised this many groups all at one time. But again because of social distancing, the group was forced to share the news as each family remained safely in their vehicles.
Zwicke says the deserving families have all worked so hard and is grateful that these four news homes will go to four great families.
“So, the first family is a single mom with two teenage children, a boy and a girl and they have been approved for a three-bedroom home. The next family is a husband and wife with two little girls ages five and two. They have also been approved for a three bedroom. The next family, a husband and wife, and five kids who have been approved for a five bedroom home and this will be our first five bedroom home in the history of Guadalupe Valley Habitat so that’s really exciting and then the fourth family is husband wife and the grandfather will be living in the home and their teenager daughter for a three bedroom,” said Zwicke.
Mike and Simone Maria could not help but smile and applaud the news with their two young daughters Lilia and Pia. Mike says his family only imaged this day and now can’t wait for the future.
“We’ll be moving on to a house. For example, we live in an apartment, second floor, we cannot jump. We have to be quiet. Imagine this during the last two months of corona — what kind of stress that was so basically, in the area, there is no playground. We can’t go out so basically just being able to afford the payments of the house,” said Maria.
When asked by the Seguin Daily News what this news meant to her, Esther Gonzalez says it is everything she ever hoped for and is excited to begin this new journey with her children Ashley and Kevin.
“I’ve been a single mom for so long and my dream come true was just give me a home for my kids. Thank you so much,” said Gonzales.
Unable to fight back the tears was future homeowner Maria Medellin. Maria and her husband Leopoldo remained shocked by the news and could not wait to go back and celebrate with their daughter Ashley and the family’s grandfather Benjamin Hernandez who will also be moving into the new home. Maria says it will change her family’s life for the good.
“We are all excited. We never thought that we were coming for this but we are all happy and I want to say thank you to these people. It was God. It was God,” said Maria. “I have always dreamed about having my own house and you know sometimes life is hard but first thank you to God and these people. They gave us all of this.”
Adding the response of speechless to shocked and surprised were those in the Rodriguez Family. Jesus and his wife Angel Rodriguez were selected to own the group’s first ever five-bedroom home. While it may have been difficult to put together his thoughts, Jesus says his family is forever grateful and is ready to share the new home with their children Cameron, Collin, Manolo, Flora Mae and Bobby.
“I’m very blessed that we are able to get the help with ya’lls help. Thank you very much. Thank you everybody. I don’t know what else to say. Thank you very much,” said Jesus.
Zwicke again says she is thankful to the family selection group for working remotely or however it could to ensure that the application process continued during these uncertain times. She says each of these families will soon begin to invest their own 200 plus sweat equity hours into the home building. This latest batch of builds for the local chapter will be homes number 30 to 33. Habitat volunteers remind the community that the homes are not given to the families but instead are sold to them through no-interest loans. The Habitat for Humanity organization works to provide low-income families with a descent place to live. The motto is to give “A Hand Up, Not a Handout.”
Habitat surprising families with hope during today’s uncertainty
