Malcolm and Linda Freeth
Thank you to The Lott Family and The Freeth Family who used 2roofs with their home sales! The sale of your homes helped provide emergency and transitional housing for homeless families and support for our marginalized neighbors in Whatcom County through the work of Habitat of Humanity. Because of friends like you over 200 people in need have been helped to find housing.
Andy and Holly Lott
Here’s the Guzman’s story, a family helped through Habitat of Humanity.
In 2000, Frumencio Guzman and his new wife, Juliana, moved from Mexico to Whatcom County as a migrant work following the strawberry crop industry. Juliana got a job planting blueberries, but the work was too hard physically.
Juliana then got a job in the seafood industry until she was eight months pregnant with their first daughter.
Agricultural workers in the U.S. often live in small cabins in the fields, without bathrooms, sometimes without running water. In an effort to get a better job working indoors, Frumencio got a job in the seafood industry.
Today, Frumencio and Juliana work many temporary jobs throughout the year, including working in the fields. They frequently take their children with them, picking blueberries and strawberries as a family. Every summer, Frumencio sleeps just a few hours each night so that he can work as many hours as he can. The family lives with their four children in a dilapidated mobile home, which is now beyond repair. One winter they lived without hot water. Friends helped them get a new water heater and have helped with some repairs, but there’s little they can do to improve their failing dwelling.
Frumencio & Juliana learned about Habitat for Humanity’s housing program and so they applied and were accepted. Juliana did her sweat-equity hours working in the Habitat Store, doing whatever jobs were needed. They will be one of the first families to move into Phase 1 of the Habitat Telegraph Townhome project.
Frumencio & Juliana learned about Habitat for Humanity’s housing program and so they applied and were accepted. Juliana did her sweat-equity hours working in the Habitat Store, doing whatever jobs were needed. They will be one of the first families to move into Phase 1 of the Habitat Telegraph Townhome project.
“Finally, we’re going to have a home. We won’t have to worry about winter and the cold coming into the house. It’s the first time I feel like we’ll have a real home,” said a beaming Juliana.
“We’re so grateful. Being a Habitat volunteer showed me that I can help other people, too. Everyone at the Habitat store has been so nice to me. I will have a home and will be living close to the college. I’m going to push myself to learn English so that I can help others in the community.” —Juliana