Today Love Foundation and its partners officially handed over a house to a single mother of three.
Judy Turton reporting…
“Two weeks ago we featured LIcia Diaz who had move into a new home. Diaz shared with us some of the challenges she faced, including abuse. Diaz’s new home was made possible through the efforts of the Love Foundation, Kolbe Foundation, Cisco Construction and BEL. Sergeant Brent Hamilton, officer in charge of community policing at Precinct two, told us how the project came about.
Sergeant Brent Hamilton, Community Policing, Precinct 2
“They all started with Markeisha Diaz who is a cadet, she is a corporal of the cadet program. We observed that she was going through some changes in her life. As a result of that we found out that she was pregnant and we decided that we needed to help and support her as a young mother. I partnered with the Love Foundation and Ms. Debbie Sewell and she said that she could assist with the process. The process got started and now we are at the end product which we saw today. I am happy, my community policing officers who work closely with me and my commanders from precinct 2 are delighted for this assistance. We are grateful and we are joyful of the situation.”
Francis Woods is the Chief Executive Officer of Cisco Construction and he told us about their involvement in the project to assist the Diaz family.
Francis Woods, CEO Cisco Construction
“ Lisa won me over when I heard her story and the difficulties that she had, the situations that she was in, of course Brent Hamilton, Debbie, my friends and I heard the story through them as well so that really won my heart over and made me put a lot of effort into it. I was just part of the coordination of it, the inmates at the Kolbe Foundation actually built the house. I had a lot of influence with the design of it to maximize the space in it that little house is a three bed room as small as it is 12X24 and could have easily been made into a four bed room. So it’s a very efficient footprint that it puts on the ground. We are just a part, we actually Cisco helped with the installation of it with the crane and moving it here and getting the septic tank hooked up and the plumbing.”
Mayor Darrel Bradley was on hand at the official handing over ceremony and he expressed appreciation for the work of the Love Foundation and its partners.
Darrell Bradley, Mayor
“I think that this is a perfect example of what is necessary for us to move our community forward, people with a love for the community with energies with resources, with a passion for community work and community development coming together to make this gift to a very deserving family. I am very pleased by the tremendous work of the Love Foundation, this is an organization that is a stellar example of what we need in our community, men and women who have a passion for moving our community forward coming together and brining their energies to make other people’s lives better.”
The house was constructed by inmates of the Belize Central Prison under an initiative called Kozy Homes. Chief Executive Officer Virgilio Murillo spoke with us about the initiative.
Virgilio Murillo, CEO Kolbe Foundation
“The Love Foundation made a request to do a house and the prison gladly accepted the request. We took it as an opportunity to at least have the inmates give back to society. So when we understood who the recipients we were even more happy to have played a part in the manufacturing of that little house. We know it was made with a lot of love that’s for sure and these guys definitely put their all into that house. Anybody who looks at that house will look at the quality and look at the finish and they would realize that it was done with a lot of love and a lot of interest and enthusiasm.”
We also had the opportunity to speak with two of the inmates involved in the construction of the house.
Inmate
“As far as I know the houses are donation and people who need it and as far as we know it has a lot of people living in one house and this is a big help. We took about fourteen days exactly. We start at seven o clock and three thirty we leave. If it was mine I would be very appreciative so for someone who live in a small house and so many of them I know they are very very happy.
Inmate
‘I feel very very good because the first house we donated is to someone in a wheelchair and it build my motivation to continue to do this when I go out so that I don’t return to this place. This is a learning experience because I learnt more on the job site.”
The three bedroom house that Diaz and her three children now call home is in the St. Martin Depores area.
Belize City resident Carol Parham will be welcoming the New Year in her new home courtesy of the Love Foundation, NEMO and Belize Electricity Limited. Hipolito Novelo has the story.
Source articles: http://lovefm.com/family-gets-new-home/
http://lovefm.com/love-foundation-and-partners-to-give-home-to-family/
Love Foundation 