House #15: Josh and Roxanne Perez
June 2020–Five years after Josh and Roxanne Perez and their three children moved into their new Habitat home, how do they like it?
“I love it,” Josh said. “The kids love it. We have our own space, compared to what we were living in. It was a blessing.”
Josh works as Head Chef at K-Bobs, while Roxanne works the night shift at James Avery manufacturing facility in Comfort.
Before learning they were eligible for House #15 built by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Fredericksburg, the couple were living in a trailer house. While they were grateful to have a place, after a year it started having problems. It got so back they had to go with out A/C due to electrical issues. They didn’t know what to do.
Then Josh saw a notice for applying for a Habitat home at the laundromat. They decided to try, going to a meeting three nights later, filling out the paperwork, and sending it off. Josh remembers being with his family at the river when he got the call.
“They said, you got the house! I said, what house? When they told us, we were like, oh, man. It was great and it has been great!”
The biggest change is that everything works.
“It made a big difference in all of our lives,” said Josh, who is Head Chef at K-Bobs, where he has worked for 10 years. “I was always having to come home and fix something. I looked for extra work on the side to be able to fix an issue. So this is a lot easier for me.”
His reaction is shared by the family.
“The kids love it because they have their own space. The house is nice and big, we live by a creek, and they have their own place to play.”
He has become an evangelist, telling others about the good works of Habitat. In fact their most recent house will soon be owned by Josh’s sister and brother-in-law.
“It is a great thing. It was a blessing.”