About the Segura-Reyes Family
To sign-up for this special build, please go to http://wb2011.kintera.org
“Everything happened so quickly!” says Blanca. And it’s true – she and Manuel can’t believe how fast they are moving from an overcrowded apartment to preparing to move into a house of their own.
Even though Manuel works two jobs as a cook, one at TGI Fridays and one at Moe’s Southwest Grill, can only afford decent housing by sharing a small apartment with Blanca’s sister and her boyfriend. This means that they must share a small bedroom with their 7-year old daughter Diana – a family in one cramped space. The lack of space indoors and the lack of space outdoors for Diana to play, noise problems, and questionable security of their apartment caused Manuel and Blanca to start looking for a way to improve their housing situation.
Blanca’s brother, another local Habitat homeowner, introduced them to Habitat for Humanity and suggested they go to the office to apply. So the next day, Blanca and Manuel went to Habitat’s office on Kirkwood Avenue to ask about the program. Things continued to move quickly when they found out that a homeowner information meeting was scheduled for the next evening. They took an application and returned the next night for the information meeting. Right after that meeting they turned in an application and waited to see if they were accepted.
They didn’t have to wait very long before they found out they were accepted to the program. The call couldn’t have come on a better day – Blanca’s birthday. “It was so good for it to be on my birthday,” she says. “I was so excited!”
Manuel started earning his sweat equity on the construction sites and really enjoyed gaining new skills. “I do everything since I am learning,” he says. Blanca loves working at the Habitat ReStore. “I started out cleaning but then I asked to be a cashier. I love talking with the customers and helping them,” she says.
Now their home is scheduled to be one of two homes built during the 10th annual Women Build event. It will be built next door to the home of her new friend Faith. When she and Faith first met at a homeowner training class, they knew they wanted to be neighbors. “When we found out we were really going to be neighbors we were so excited!” she says. They both have children and Blanca is looking forward to sitting on her porch and watching the kids play on their quiet cul de sac in Cedar Chase, the neighborhood Habitat is building on Bloomington’s southwest side.
Most of all, Blanca and Manuel are thrilled that this whirlwind of changes will mean they have their very own house. Diana and Blanca are making plans for a garden with flowers (which Diana loves) and vegetables. Manuel plans to enjoy sleeping after a long day in a quiet bedroom. Blanca says, “Our own space, our own house is something exciting. It’s something special.”