Since losing the family's Dallas home to foreclosure almost a decade ago, Margarita Sanchez has been telling her children that she would some day own a new home for them.
That day came Saturday when B/CS Habitat For Humanity and the city of College Station presented the Sanchez family with the keys to their brand new four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Phoenix Street.
"My mom is a very dedicated person who always puts people first before herself," said Cesia Sanchez, Margarita's 20-year-old daughter who is studying economics at Texas A&M. "Today I feel like it was her time."
Margarita Sanchez works at Sanderson Farms, often not getting home until 2 or 3 a.m., but always there to take her son to school in the morning, Cesia said.
Margarita, her three children and her mother will move into the new house later this month.
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"The volunteers put work into it and you can see it," Cesia said of the family's new home. "That makes my mom value the house more because she worked for it, but values the time all the volunteers took from their busy schedules to make her dream a reality."
Also receiving the keys to her wheelchair-accessible home on Saturday was Kabrina Tucker, a Blinn graduate who works for Cognizant Technology Solutions in College Station.
Born with cerebral palsy, Tucker has used a wheelchair to get around her entire life, making it difficult to find a place to live, she said in a Habitat for Humanity press release.
Her two-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom house was sponsored by Corporate Challenge 2014, consisting of 13 companies.
"I won't have to worry if this room is going to be big enough for my wheelchair," Tucker said. "It will be a perfect fit for me,"
Through Habitat For Humanity, both families bought their homes at cost through 30-year, interest-free mortgages and 500 "sweat equity" hours. It's not a free house but a partnership, said Ryan Pierce, B/CS Habitat for Humanity's director of communications.
The keys to their futures
Kabrina Tucker and Margarita Sanchez received keys to new Habitat for Humanity homes on Saturday. Eagle photos by Dave McDermand
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Habitat for Humanity dedicates houses
A large Habitat for Humanity sign sets the stage for the dedication of two new Habitat homes on Phoenix Street in College Station in August 2014.
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The recipients of new Habitat for Humanity houses, Kabrina Tucker (center) and Margarita Sanchez (right) and her daughter, Cesia, were overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude during the ceremony.
