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Habitat families celebrate Vail Valley homes

Lauren Glendenning
lglendenning@vaildaily.com
Vail, CO Colorado
Dominique Taylor/Vail DailyPhoto by Dominique Taylor
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VAIL VALLEY, Colorado –Jose Castillo has worked in the Vail Valley for 20 years, and only now does he feel like he’s officially part of the community.

Castillo and his family are one of two new homeowners at Habitat for Humanity’s Fox Hollow site in Edwards, and for Castillo, the moment culminated a lot of years of hard work.

He said he would have continued renting if it wasn’t for Habitat for Humanity – and with three children, he didn’t want to have to do that.



“Now we belong to the community, we are not floating around,” Castillo said.

Castillo, who works at the Vail Marriott, moved to Vail to work in the winters about 20 years ago. He was finally able to bring his wife, Fabiola, and daughter, Carmen, to the valley, but it was tough to make ends meet.

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Now the couple has two more children, Alexis, 11, and David, 12, and the kids are thrilled to have a place to call home.

The house is a lot bigger, Alexis said, which is why he likes it so much.

David said he likes that it’s new. Carmen, now 15, is excited the family has its very own house now.

The family put in hundreds of hours of work into their new home. Habitat calls it “sweat equity” – families aren’t just given the keys to a new home without a lot of hard work on both sides.

For Ada Amaya, all the work has certainly paid off. Amaya is a single mother raising three children, and seeing the smiles on her kids’ faces makes her cry.

“It’s very exciting – my kids are so happy,” Amaya said. “I’m so grateful and so happy that my dreams have come true.”

Amaya’s daughters, Yahaira Moya, 8, and Adamaris Moya, 7, wore fancy dresses for the occasion Wednesday – they said they wanted to dress up because the day meant so much.

The girls were roaming around their house, helping their mother welcome all of the guests. They were happy to show the place off, too.

Yahaira’s favorite part about the house is that it’s two stories, she said.

“I have never had stairs before,” Yahaira said.

Adamaris said she likes the house “because it’s a super-cute home.”

Habitat for Humanity board members and staff got choked up as they dedicated the homes to the families. For Stacy Nibbelink, vice president of the board, she said she doesn’t understand how anyone couldn’t get choked up. The organization has now put nearly 100 children in new homes with their families in the valley.

“If you don’t get chills when you see this home presentation, then you don’t know what living is all about,” Nibbelink said.

Community Editor Lauren Glendenning can be reached at 970-748-2983 or lglendenning@vaildaily.com.


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