Christmas Is Move-In Day for a Family Many Are Glad to Help

When they blessed the house 11 days ago, the tears started falling. The work had been so hard and swift and the cause so uplifting that when the dozens of workers formed a circle around the house to celebrate a job well done, the emotions were too much and so the tears came.

To the Fuentes family, it was the miracle house, built in seven days by a coalition of caring people just so Mauricio and Iris and their five delightful daughters could move in by Christmas Day.

They made it. On Tuesday, the Fuentes family got the keys to their four-bedroom, 1,200 square-foot home on the corner of Bristol Street and Borchard Avenue in Santa Ana.

“I can tell you, we were blessed,” Iris Fuentes is saying on Christmas Eve afternoon, flanked by three daughters and reliving the whirlwind dream that will have them in their home today or soon thereafter.

Lots of Heroes

Heroes abound in this tale -- too many, in fact, to cite adequately.

The home was built through a partnership of the Lennar Homes company, Habitat for Humanity and, for the first time on an Orange County project, the local chapter of Special Olympics, which provided about 30 of its mentally or physically impaired athletes.

For 12 years, the Fuentes family had lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Westminster. In recent months, they’d moved in with Iris’s sister and her two children in her small Westminster home. A couple of years ago, Iris heard through her daughters about Habitat for Humanity, which builds homes for poor people, and she applied.

Now 37, Iris contracted polio in her native Guatemala when she was 3, and the condition in her right leg has been worsening. She limps, and someday might need a wheelchair. The new home has special accommodations for her.

But this story isn’t about floor plans or paint jobs. It’s about dozens of anonymous volunteers and a family that -- please take my word for this -- is immensely grateful.

“You see us smiling and laughing now,” Iris says, adding that life has cast some dark shadows, as well. The five girls have shared a bedroom over the years. Mauricio is a machinist, but the family hasn’t been able to qualify for a home loan and hasn’t been able to afford a multi-bedroom apartment.

This Christmas, you can see the buoyancy in Iris’s face and in her daughters, who said they had a wild living room celebration in early August when a Habitat official carrying flowers knocked on the door and told them: “You’re going to have a house.”

The job was finished Dec. 14, except for some follow-up work that delayed moving day. “It’s amazing for everyone,” Iris says. “It started from flat cement, and it rose like a flower.”

An hourlong visit gave me a glimpse of the Fuentes family that, according to people associated with the project, made it all the more rewarding.

A Special Family

“Everyone was in tears, because the family is a very special family,” says Tanya Hebert-Scott, a Habitat volunteer and the liaison with the Fuentes family.

“They lived in a one-bedroom apartment for 12 years. They’re such humble people. They’re just nice. And so deserving,” she said.

“It felt really good to do something for someone who showed genuine gratitude for everyone involved.”

For the Special Olympians, who handled various chores, the job let them return some community favors.

“We’re so often the recipient of giving and philanthropy,” says Special Olympics official Charlene Ferris, “that this is our chance to give back and let people interact with our athletes.”

The disabled workers, who have various levels of mental retardation, knew what their efforts meant.

“What came across,” Ferris says, “ was they knew they were building a home for someone and that the people would have it by Christmas. They could understand, here was a family who needed a chance, and they felt they were making a difference for them. They have a strong sense of home and family and they saw they were allowing these people to have a better family life.”

Expressing Gratitude

Iris wanted to hug each worker. She hoped her English wouldn’t fail her when she wanted to convey her family’s gratitude to the volunteer workforce. Reflecting on the tears that flowed on Dec. 14 when a minister blessed the house with a prayer and people encircled it, she says, “It was because of the significance it brought to our family. The people who worked there, they made it special.

“I call them my angels.”

It’s a safe bet none of the homebuilders need any thanks. Their kindness comes with its own reward.

It’s just too bad, though, they couldn’t have been there the day before Christmas when the family got the keys to the house and heard Iris’s reaction: “It’s the best present of my life.”

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com.