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Home improvement program provides Hialeah family a rebuilt house: City officials recently completed the 60th home restoration through a program that aims to improve the quality of life of its residents
Jul 04, 2009 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Since 1984, Hialeah officials have been renovating dilapidated homes for loyal residents who can't afford to do it themselves.
The latest house restored after considerable deterioration over the last six decades is owned by the Chuys, a family of six who live at 150 E. Fourth St.
Hialeah officials turned over the keys to the remodeled house on Tuesday.
"I feel good, very grateful to the city," Barbara Chuy-Terrero said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. "From the moment I got here from Cuba, this city and country have taken good care of me."
The Chuys' house was rebuilt from the ground up and took about two years and $107,633.
"At a time when people are losing their houses, I'm proud to say we have the opportunity to turn over a brand new house to residents," Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina said.
Hialeah has renovated 60 homes through the home-improvement program, paid for by the State Housing Initiative Partnership Program, which aims to give safe and livable homes to low- and moderate-income families and improve the quality of life for residents.
Although the state Legislature cut funding for the program during the last session, Hialeah officials say they plan to continue the home-improvement project with money leftover from year's past.
There are a few requirements to qualify for the program, Robaina said.
"We choose a house that is in bad physical shape," he said. "And the family living in the house has to commit to living in Hialeah."
This commitment poses no problem for the Chuys, who have lived in Hialeah for the past 18 years, 15 in the house on East Fourth Street.
Originally built in the late 1940s, the house had seen its best and worst days.
"It had gone through too many storms. Thank God it was quite strong, but it had a limit. It was falling apart," said Barbara's 33-year-old son, Jorge Luis Chuy. "The house just wasn't livable."
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house has been brought up to code and features hurricane impact shutters and solar lighting, Robaina said.
Chuy's father, Luis Manuel Chuy, sought help from the city years ago to remodel his home and was granted the home-improvement grant a few years ago. While he was able to see the beginnings of a new home, he didn't live to see the day it was turned over to the family.
He died of cancer on April 15 at age 65. Throughout the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, the family held a picture of Manuel Chuy.
"He's here with us," Jorge Luis Chuy said. "This is what he wanted for us. And he got it for us."
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