Home for Christmas

PNT staff writer

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Gay Luna and her two daughters, Devyn, 16, and Tori, 15, got some Christmas joy a little early this year.

On Saturday, the family got a newly constructed home from the Roosevelt and Curry County Habitat for Humanity. Tears shed and hugs given, the family moved in on Saturday after a dedication and house blessing ceremony. For Luna, “It still has not soaked in,” she said about living in the new home.

link CMI staff photo: Lillian Bowe

Gay Luna, right and her daughters, Devyn, middle, and Tori, far left, enter their new home built by volunteers from Habitat for Humanity.

With family photos and paintings already placed on the walls, the new house already feels like a home. Unpacking is still being done, but the family is almost completely moved in.

Living a very small home before, her daughters had to share a room, and all three had to share a bathroom, as the setup was all she could afford at the time.

Luna had resigned herself to the idea this would be the situation with any house that she could afford. She found out that her friends got a home from Habitat, but she still did not think she would get a home.

“Being a single parent, I did not think I could even afford a nice home, but Habitat makes it very affordable,” Luna said.

When she first applied for a home, the possibility was wiped out when the Sunland peanut plant closed. When the plant briefly reopened, she applied again and it was approved.

Construction started in May, as Luna and her daughters were there at the construction site every Saturday to help build their new home. The organization requires recipients to put in hours for their homes and to help build homes for future recipients.

“Devyn and Tori both raised the studs and dry wall to their own rooms,” Luna said.

While building the home, Luna was astounded by the many volunteers who took time out of their lives just to help out and build the home.

“The best thing about this experience was the great friends we made,” Luna said.

Their new home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms so her daughters no longer have to share a bedroom. Luna said she designed the home herself, picking out the cabinets for her kitchen, color of the walls and many other small details to make the home her own.

Luna said the home is already “filled with love and God’s grace,” and she feels very blessed to have it.

“This is the best Christmas present I have ever been given,” Luna said.