‘It’s a huge, huge deal’: Family of 7 receives new home through Habitat for Humanity

ELKHART, Ind. (WNDU) - A family received the keys to their new home courtesy of Habitat for Humanity in Elkhart County on Thursday.

22-year-old Guadalupe Cortez, and her six younger siblings, received the keys to their new home with friends and family in attendance.

Their mother died in 2020 and they’ve been living in a three-bedroom trailer since. But now, their lives will be a little different. The family of siblings will move into an 1800 sq. ft., 2-story home on Prairie Street in Elkhart County with five bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms.

“I have guardianship over my six siblings, so I did it for them you know?” Cortez told 16 News Now. “For the love that I have for them. Just to give them a better area to grow in, and this is going to be the first home we own as a family, so it’s a huge, huge deal.”

A tree was planted in their front yard, adorned with love notes in the soil in memory of their mother.

The home was funded through Habitat for Humanity’s annual “Raise the Roof” event.

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