Diana Martinez now knows how far $100 can go.
Martinez attends Waterstone Community Church and learned of the hardships Alicia Amaro was suffering raising her four grandchildren in a one-bedroom home in Lakewood and decided to get involved. She met the family just over a year ago after raising $100 and has been spending time with them ever since.
“I had somebody give me $100 and I thought, ‘Well people have started with less than that and seen more accomplished,’” Martinez said.
Amaro, 56, has been raising her grandchildren for the past five years and the five of them have been sharing a bedroom, bathroom and at times even a bed.
If that wasn’t enough, health problems have been an issue for the family as well. Amaro suffers from diabetes, Estreya, the eldest child has a rare skin disorder called Epidermolysis Bullosa, which causes skin sores comparable to third-degree burns. Jake, 9, also has an undiagnosed form of autism that causes behavioral issues.
Amaro has been on her own since her children’s father was deported back to Mexico nearly 10 years ago.
She recently began work for Personal Assistant Services of Colorado as a certified nurses assistant, but the income is hardly enough to fix all the problems around her house.
A few months ago, Martinez had Amaro fill out an application for a Metro West Housing Solutions project to rehabilitate a home that needed it and Amaro’s home was selected. On Friday, more than 40 volunteers turned out to help upgrade the home by improving the bathroom, installing a new front door, replacing ramps and working on an addition all in one day.
“The idea is 24 hours, get all these volunteers together, do as much as you can as quickly as you can at the highest level of quality obviously, but try to do that so we’re not infringing on the homeowner’s day-to-day life,” said Ryan McCaw of Metro West Housing Solutions, a nonprofit organization.
Metro West Housing teamed up with Rebuilding Together to fund and supply materials and volunteers for the event.
The City of Lakewood also got involved, donating two trees for the backyard as well as $1,200 to the effort. The money came from vending machine proceeds from the recreation center.
“It’s heart-warming to see so many elements of the community, faith-based and government and there’s lots of neighbors here, Lakewood residents that heard about it and in one case donated some money so that’s really what community building is all about,” said Mayor Bob Murphy, who was on hand to present the check and assisted in planting the two trees.
Volunteers came in throughout the day to help with the project. One family found out about the event from the city newsletter “Looking at Lakewood” and decided to join the effort with a donation check in hand.
“We had seen something like that on television in another state where they helped a family and we just figured that’s the right thing to be doing,” said Lakewood resident Susie Strutsman, who came out with her husband Alan Plunkett and their son Connor.
One project that couldn’t be finished in one day, but will be finished up perhaps as early as this week, is an addition constructed by Colorado State University as part of a service project back in February. The addition will give the children additional bedrooms and a bathroom that includes a special bathtub for Estreya. Currently, Estreya, 11, sleeps in a special hospital bed while Jake and Daniel, 8, sleep in bunk beds that were provided by Waterstone Community Church. Amaro shares her bed with the youngest child, Gabriela, 3. While the transformation of the home is understandably overwhelming for Amaro and the children, she is very grateful for the efforts of everyone involved.
“I don’t know how to tell everybody ‘thank you.’ It’s too much for me,” Amaro said.
Amaro is especially grateful to Martinez and her efforts, who has been the constant source of help throughout the past year.
“God sent me an angel over here,” Amaro said, gesturing to Martinez.
But for Martinez, she said she feels like the one who has been blessed.
“I’ve fallen in love with them. They’re kind of like a second family for me and I think they’ve done more for me than I could do ever to do for them.”