{"id":470120,"date":"2025-12-25T05:19:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T05:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/470120\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T05:19:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T05:19:12","slug":"new-home-courtesy-of-habitat-for-humanity-makes-christmas-extra-special-for-san-antonio-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/470120\/","title":{"rendered":"New home, courtesy of Habitat for Humanity, makes Christmas extra special for San Antonio family"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 It did not arrive in a bright box with a big bow, but Ramona Carrasco and her children see their new home on San Antonio\u2019s Southwest Side very much as a gift. <\/p>\n

>> End of year, new beginnings: Habitat for Humanity builds new home for local family<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI have wanted to own a home, I think, pretty much all of my adult life,\u201d Carrasco said. \u201cThe cost of owning a home is very high right now. I didn\u2019t see it within my near future.\u201d <\/p>\n

The process of becoming a first-time homeowner, though, is now in her past. She signed the paperwork on the four-bedroom, two-bathroom space earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Carrasco was one of 67 homeowners in 2025 to benefit from a program run by Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great milestone for me and my family. My oldest son got to help build the house,\u201d the mother of four said.<\/p>\n

Participants in the program are required to put in \u201csweat equity.\u201d <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the name the organization gives to the requirement of working at least 300 hours building homes, often including their own.<\/p>\n

Carrasco said she and other relatives went well above that requirement, putting in around 400 hours of work.<\/p>\n

Soon after she signed the paperwork, her younger children got busy making plans to decorate, in particular for Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just saying we should put a Christmas tree over there,\u201d said her youngest son, Christopher Loera, pointing to a corner in the living room. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be so exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carrasco\u2019s daughter, Carly Loera, was thinking beyond the Christmas tree.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome gifts under the tree and lights,\u201d Carly said, excitedly.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what Santa may bring the family, Carrasco says she has already received one of the greatest gifts ever, her own home. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to celebrate Christmas with my children in our own house\u2014we have had rentals, rented a house before– but it means more that it\u2019s actually ours,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While the home is large enough for each family member to have a space of their own, Carrasco said the kitchen is one place where she hopes they will all come together.<\/p>\n

Carrasco said she is looking forward to whipping up family meals and cooking up some family traditions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe do enjoy going to my grandmother\u2019s and cooking with her. I would like to maybe start our own cooking tradition in our house,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

For more information about how to apply to Habitat for Humanity\u2019s homebuyer program, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 It did not arrive in a bright box with a big bow, but Ramona Carrasco…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":470121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,44679,75189,7202,7203,7120,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-470120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-christmas","10":"tag-habitat-for-humanity","11":"tag-san-antonio","12":"tag-sanantonio","13":"tag-southwest-side","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115778523296087614","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}