Immigrant family saved from homelessness, receives help remodeling house

PROVO — The Estrada family was on the verge of homelessness.

Their house was in need of repairs to stay up to code for the community requirements, but they didn't have the money to pay for the $50,000 repairs needed. That's the Fuller Center for Housing of Utah County's specialty, so the people there stepped in to help with repairs.

Homeowner Susana Estrada and her husband have five children, four of whom have disabilities that require Estrada to stay home and take care of them while her husband works two jobs.

Estrada's days are spent caring for her children, who deal with depression, anxiety, autism, ADHD, intellectual disability, speech difficulties and more. Her youngest also was in the hospital frequently during the first years of his life because he needed help breathing.

All of Estrada's children are U.S. citizens, and she and her husband have work visas while they are working towards full citizenship. Estrada is from Mexico, but she also lived in Switzerland for a few years for work. She moved to Utah 23 years ago where she met and married her husband, who is also from Mexico.

Because of their immigrant status, the Estradas are ineligible for most assistance programs to fix their house.

Estrada said she had applied to multiple organizations to try and get help so her family wouldn't lose their house. The Fuller Center for Housing of Utah County was her last resort and she never expected the application to be answered.

The Fuller Center is a global nonprofit organization with a mission of eradicating housing poverty worldwide because it believes everyone deserves to have adequate housing. The Utah County entity was founded in 2019 and focuses on repairs and refurbishments to help low-income homeowners in need.

Estrada said she is excited and grateful for the Fuller Center's help in saving and repairing her home.

"You don't know how much you are changing our lives," Estrada, fighting back emotion, said to Brian Zilich, the project committee lead for her house's remodeling.

Zilich started working on the Estrada project in July when the Fuller Center heard they could be put on the streets if they didn't get repairs done. Zilich did an assessment of the Estrada home and then reached out to Mint Construction, which had offered service work to the Fuller Center.

As part of phase one, the Estrada's home received a new roof, awning and deck on Tuesday. Over the next few days, a new heater and air conditioner unit was installed, skirting around the house was updated, new windows were installed, and the whole house was painted.

Zilich expects phase two will occur in January when the Fuller Center will help remodel some of the inside of the house to better accommodate the family's needs.

The Fuller Center connected with Mint Construction and local subcontractors to lower the cost of repairs to $10,000. The Fuller Center is covering the cost of the repairs, but it also works with the homeowners to devise a payback plan that is feasible and affordable for them.

Zilich said the Estradas will be taking financial classes with Community Action Services so "they can get a foot in the ground and really move forward in a positive way."

The Fuller Center has families participate in payment plans not to pay the center back, but to help pay it forward for the next family in need and to fund future projects.

"We call it a hand up, not a handout," Zilich said. "All of our homeowners that we do big jobs for know that they are paying back into our program and helping the next person."

For Zilich, he says working with the Fuller Center is how he uses the gifts God gave him to make connections with people and resources in order to impact the community at large.

"This is the main thing God wants us to do while we are here on Earth — love our neighbors. There are so many people in need," he said.

He said the Fuller Center is always looking for more help from volunteers and for local businesses and contractors to partner with them if interested.

The Estradas are filled with gratitude for their repaired home as they look forward to the future.

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