Miguel, Rosalva, and their children – Randy (20) and Gloria (15) – have lived in their current rental residence for the past eleven years. Miguel has worked as a cook for two downtown hotels for the past five years. Rosalva was laid off in 2009 and is currently looking for work.
Randy has his own room but 13 year-old Gloria shares a small room with her parents. The rental is very old and there are many problems. The apartment does not have adequate insulation and thus a lot of outside air enters in. It is extremely cold in the winter and hot in the summer. There are also many cracks and openings throughout the rental and spiders and ants freely enter in. The landlord ignores all maintenance requests. The bathroom and kitchen sink are leaking and the family must use bowls to collect the water. They also live right next to the street and often have to change their screens due to the street debris that is collected. The family is concerned about safety. People have entered into their back yard and stolen their family bird. The family does not feel comfortable going outside.
The family is excited about completing the sweat equity and purchasing their very own home.
