Meet Lourdes
Early last year, life wasn’t going the way Lourdes had planned.
A single mother at the age of 37, she lived in a trailer on a friend’s property in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, with her teenage son, Jesus Antonio. Lourdes worked as a maid while Jesus worked at a restaurant. Despite their perseverance and hard work, it was a daily struggle just to meet their basic needs.
Life began to take a hopeful turn when Lourdes acquired a small piece of land through a program initiated by the city government. Even so, her dream of saving enough money to build a house seemed a long way off.
Image: The property Lourdes acquired through a program initiated by the city government.
Then Lourdes heard about 1MISSION. She learned that by serving her community, she and her son could earn a house of their own. By the end of the year, they had completed their volunteer service time and construction on their house was completed.
For Lourdes, a lot has changed in a short amount of time. After meeting other volunteers during the process of serving her community, she had a paradigm shift in the way she viewed her neighbors. She now feels hopeful for the future, having already seen her impossible dream come true.
Lourdes struggled with drug addiction in the past, and while she had been clean for three years prior to earning her house, thoughts of drug use continued to torment her. Now she says she has been completely freed from that struggle.
She has also been reconciled with her husband and feels that their marriage is very strong. Strengthened relationships extend beyond the household as well, with new and renewed friendships with neighbors enriching her life.
Although she has completed her community service obligations, she continues to serve and give back to her community. When groups come to Puerto Peñasco to build houses, Lourdes often serves as a cook at the 1MISSION kitchen. She also works alongside Monchi, one of our community trainers, on community garden projects.
And it gets even better. Through her husband’s job, the family has qualified for a small loan which they have used to expand the size of the home, making it more comfortable for the family.
Image: The Orosco Davila family’s finished house before the addition.
Image: With a small loan, the Orosco Davila family was able to add the brick addition to the house.
Families like this inspire us. By their example, they continue to show that the story doesn’t end when the keys are handed over for a new 1MISSION house. In fact, that’s when the real story begins.