By Kristine Thomas
Daniel Diaz Valdez and Ana Chacón’s five children are often sleep deprived when they attend school.
Living in a small, three-bedroom apartment in Canby, Chacón said her neighbors stay up late using their washer and dryer or playing musical instruments keeping her children – ages 7 to 19 years old – awake.
“It’s a difficult and very sad situation for me and my children,” Chacón said. “We can’t say much as our son Caleb suffers from autism. He sometimes has loud outbursts and tantrums that end up having the neighbors complaining of our noise.”
Chacón said her 7-year-old son’s doctors have told her and her husband they need a bigger space to live and play which would limit Caleb’s outbursts.
“Also, two of my kids suffer from asthma, I don’t think this small apartment helps that matter any. Lastly, two of the three heaters don’t work,” she added.
Chacón and her family would like to “thank God” in helping them partner with the North Willamette Valley Habitat for Humanity.
Along with the Marisol Paz and Eduardo Morales and their five children, the Valdez family will become homeowners this month. Their homes are the 12th, 13th and 14th ones built by North Willamette Valley Habitat for Humanity in Silverton. 
The nonprofit organization located in Mount Angel is currently looking for an owner for the third Silverton home. The NWV Habitat for Humanity built the three Silverton homes in conjunction with the Huddart Family Foundation and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and the Thrivent Builds program. Since it started in 1986, NWV Habitat for Humanity has built 37 homes.
Community members are invited to attend a dedication ceremony hosted by the North Willamette Valley Habitat for Humanity. The events begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 at 1315 Littlebit Court in Silverton.
“Having our own house signifies a blessing from God, a dream becoming a reality and one we are waiting for anxiously. Not one day passes without us mentioning our new home or Habitat. We are very excited and look forward to moving into the Silverton community,” said Chacón, who is a homemaker. Her husband works for Xerox and the children attend school in the Canby School District. The children are Daniel Jr., 19; Aminadab, 16; Adai, 13; Benjamin, 9, and Caleb, 7. They will transfer to the Silver Falls School District after Jan. 21.
Marisol Paz and Eduardo Morales have worked as many as five seasonal jobs at nurseries to provide for their five children, Maria, Berenice, Luis, Eveline and Yuretzi.
Now a freshman at Western Oregon University, Maria was the president of the Habitat Club at Kennedy High School, where she graduated with honors and received numerous scholarships. The stability of a Habitat home will allow Maria’s siblings to follow in her footsteps to a successful future, her parents said.
The family of seven currently lives in an apartment with one bathroom.
“Having a home means the world to us,” Paz said. “We cannot express all the emotions we are feeling and going through.”
At first, Chacón said, her children were timid to help work on the house and didn’t want to go to the work site, where the family put sweat equity into the construction of the home. Volunteerism keeps construction costs low and the homes affordable for Habitat families.
“But after their second time on the build site, they were hooked,” Chacón said. “I hope they have learned to value the blessings in life more and to keep in mind that if you want something in life, it takes hard work and sacrifice.”
Chacón said her children are “super happy” to have a home of their own and have made plans of how they will decorate their rooms and where the school bus will pick them up.
“They wonder how many friends they’ll have and are excited that fishing opportunities are nearby,” she said. “They also like that they’ll finally have a place to ride their bikes and look forward to meeting the other neighborhood kids.”
Both Paz and Chacón would like to thank the 300 volunteers who helped them build their homes and they are both grateful they got to share the experience with one another.
“We would like to thank all of the volunteers for their kind hearts in helping us construct our new home and for all the fun loving memories,” Paz said.
“It was all very fun even though my fingers paid the price after been hit a few times with the hammer,” Chacón said. “I learned how to paint and become comfortable working on ladders. All in all, it was fun and a valuable life experience.”
Paz is also grateful for the opportunity to work on the home she will own. “We had tons of fun working alongside everyone. We now have many memories even before we move in. We have learned the importance of giving back through volunteer work We’d like to thank Habitat for giving us this once in a lifetime opportunity of owning our own home. This is truly a dream come true.”
Chacón agrees and feels blessed to be given the opportunity by Habitat and the volunteers to build and own a home.
“I don’t have words that could express my gratitude,” she said. “I only ask God to bless them and hope he repays them double for their good deeds. I would like to be more like them and help them build more Habitat homes in the future. I’d like to thank God for this blessing and thank all the warm hearts that help make our dreams of homeownership into a reality.”
