Family Feature: Liliana, Alexandra, and Camila
The second-youngest child in a family of eight siblings, Liliana has lived in Boulder since her family moved from California when she was just 13. Now a mother to Alexandra (age 14) and Camila (age 7), Liliana will be able to raise her children in her own hometown thanks to her Flatirons Habitat home.
Staying in the city is a luxury that many of Liliana’s brothers and sisters have not had. Her siblings, Liliana said, were forced to move from the city they call home because of how increasingly expensive it is becoming.
Due to rent increases, Liliana and her daughters moved several times before settling in the mobile home park where they live now. Currently, she lives with her daughters in a mobile home park in Boulder. Liliana owns the mobile home but still has to pay rent for space to park.
“Both of my girls are Boulder natives,” said Liliana. “Before Habitat we were looking to move, not because we wanted to, but because rent prices are very high. Everything changed when I qualified for a Habitat home because we get to stay in this beautiful city.”
Liliana and her girls will live in one of three units at the Flatirons Habitat King’s Ridge development. Camila and Alexandra will be able to see their grandparents every day and will stay close to their friends and in their current schools.
Photo credit: Malory Toscano
Along with consistency and stability, the family is looking forward to more space and avoiding Boulder’s ever-increasing rent prices.
“It means a lot. I’m going to be a homeowner when everything is getting so expensive,” said Liliana, who is a financial screener for Clinica Family Health Services, helping to connect people with resources to receive medical care. “I wouldn’t be able to do that without Habitat. I still can’t believe it.”
Liliana thinks that her King’s Ridge home will open up more possibilities for her girls as they grow up. Pointing to studies finding that children do better in school when they live in an owned home, she is thrilled to see what the future will hold for Camila and Alexandra.
“Now I can secure a safe and stable home for my girls to grow,” said Liliana.
Alexandra and Camila aren’t looking quite that far in the future, but they’re both looking forward to having friends over in their new home. And their mom is excited to do all of their favorite things - watch movies, plan trips to the movies or the mall - in a home of their own. All three can’t wait to see how their new home is “going to look, how it’s going to be.”
Liliana also is looking forward to getting hands-on in making their home a reality.
“It’s going to be good,” she said of her sweat equity hours. “I’m going to be building our own home and we get to live in it.”
Alexandra, who is too young to pitch in on construction, said building their new home sounds “hard, but kind of cool.”
