New house dedicated in honor of Pope Francis

In honor of the Pope’s visit, an El Paso family now has a place to call home after months of hard work with their own hands and the help of volunteers.

With help from Habitat for Humanity and the community, the Vasquez family is ready to move into their new home in the northeast.

“It’s a big goal for us,” said Sharon Vasquez at the dedication Saturday. :Because having a house in the United States is really a great thing to have. We feel really blessed for having this opportunity to be the one that – we were (chosen) to have it.”

And its not just a gift. The entire Vasquez family has worked since October, along with other volunteers and professionals, to build the home from the ground up.

“I never imagined that it would be like this,” Vasquez said. “It’s really great.”

Habitat for Humanity organized the construction with the help of groups like a pre-civil engineering class at Bel Air High School, all dedicated to Pope Francis’s commitment to social justice.

“This is great. The fact that it was both for us academic, and now actually for the charitable contribution, it’s awesome,” said Steve Salcido, an engineering and math teacher at Bel Air. “And having the pope come in next week, it’s like a win win situation for us. And (the students) get to contribute.”

As a result of all their efforts, the Vasquez family now has their first home with a backyard to run with their dog, Leonora, who has fresh new tags with the family’s new address.

Habitat for Humanity will also be building two other houses in the same area in the coming months. The Vasquez family will helping to build those too to help give back.