Habitat is pleased to welcome the Torres-Munoz Family as the potential new owner of a home in the duplex in Silt that is currently under construction. Everyone has a story, and the story of Adrian Torres and Laura Munoz is a modern day Facebook romance.
Adrian was just 17-years-old and living with his aunts in Santa Fe when an uncle invited him to Grand Junction to work with him. Adrian learned the hard work of excavation and fence building. Newly single mom Laura Munoz decided to leave Juarez, Mexico, and move with her young children to Carbondale, Colorado, where her brother and sister were living.
Adrian and Laura became “friends” on Facebook. “Of course I wanted to meet her,” Adrian explains. “Look how beautiful she is!”
A few years later Adrian and Laura married. “He loves my children like they are his,” Laura says. Today this family of six live in a two-bedroom apartment with one bathroom in Glenwood Springs. Twelve-year-old Irving and nine-year-old Ailinne share one bedroom, while four-year-old Angie and eight-month-old Eyden share a room with their parents.
One of Habitat for Humanity’s primary selection criteria is the family’s need for housing. Families must currently live in substandard, crowded, or unaffordable housing, or housing that for some reason does not meet the family’s needs. Habitat’s Family Selection Committee felt the Torres-Munoz Family evidenced the most need of all the families who applied.
Adrian knows from experience how a Habitat for Humanity home represents a hand-up, not a hand-out. Both of his aunts, who welcomed him in Santa Fe years ago, now live in Habitat homes that Adrian helped build.
Owning a home and having adequate space for his family are Adrian’s major priorities. He explains that owning a home will give his family the opportunity to start saving so that Irving can attend college. The Torres-Munoz Family is looking forward to helping build their home and being a part of the Silt community.