Family Focus: Meet the Bounvassana Family!
Mary Bounvassana lives with her two children Jeremias, 12, and Alicia, 10. Mary is a single mom and works as a bank teller. They live in a two-bedroom apartment that is poorly insulated, with an extensive mold problem which has caused both of her children asthma. The bathroom sink, bathtub, and toilet all get clogged due to poor plumbing. Mary and her children would love to move into a new house where they could all have separate rooms and a safe area to play. Learn more.
Family Bios: The Jimenez Family
Fernando Jimenez and Teresa Portillo live with their three children Carlos, 21, Nathaly, 8, and Arnoldo, 3, moved into Lents Landing in January. The family used to live in a two-bedroom apartment. Fernando works full-time to support the family as a set-up tech with a wire components company and Teresa is a stays at home to take care of Nathaly and Arnoldo. Carlos is a full-time student at Portland Community College studying computer information systems.
Since being in the Habitat program Fernando and Carlos have put in well over their 500 hours because they enjoy helping out. Carlos serves on the Youth United Steering Committee, which is a group of young people who are raising money to sponsor and build a Habitat home in Lents Landing. The Youth United home is under construction and will be right next door to the Jimenez home. Teresa said she loves living in her new home, and the family and kids are incredibly happy.
The Jimenez Home was sponsored by the Portland Pride Build.
