‘Un Toque de Cariño’ enables 5 families to own a home
Ramona Velázquez and two of her sons received the key to their new home during a ceremony attended by: (From left:) Ramón Padilla and Jacqueline Ballester, members of Habitat’s Board of Directors; Patillas Mayor Norberto Soto; Carmen Pagán, FirstBank’s senior vice president of Compliance and Community Reinvestment; Freddie Hernández, Habitat board member and Maidy López, Home Depot’s human resources director.
Five financially disadvantaged families along the island’s southwestern region benefited having their homes rehabilitated under the “Un Toque de Cariño” program, sponsored by Habitat for Humanity Puerto Rico and FirstBank, which donates $50,000 to the initiative.
For a year, Habitat for Humanity volunteers carried out construction works to restore the homes of five families residing in the towns of Guayama, Guánica and Patillas.
“As part of our contribution to the communities we serve, FirstBank joined Habitat for Humanity with ‘Un Toque de Cariño’ to help these five families achieve their dream of living in a rehabilitated home according to their specific needs. In this manner, we fulfill our commitment to guarantee them the right to enjoy a secure home, with better living conditions,” said Carmen M. Pagán, FirstBank’s senior vice president of Compliance and Community Reinvestment.
Amanda Silva, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity said her organization’s goal is to help local families achieve their dream of homeownership, through a model of mutual assistance and personal effort.
“Upon conclusion of this first phase of ‘Un Toque de Cariño,’ we are pleased to have completed construction work to help with the need for adequate housing of these families,” said, noting the contributions of a number of entities that participated in the project, namely FirstBank, Segarra Boerman Foundation, Lanco, PR Family Services Alliance, Home Depot, Econo, Procter & Gamble, Second Baptist Church of Guayama, the Municipality and the Catholic Church of Patillas.
