The Cox Family
On April 28 the Cox family and friends flew to San Diego on a special quest, to build a Project Mercy Baja house for a needy family, in honor of their late daughter Liberty Love Henkel. It was an emotional but triumphant day for both the Cox family and for Adalid Preciado Tapla and her two children. Adalid and her children lost their husband and dad to Covid-19 a few months ago, he was just 37 years old. They went from having a good family life with support to losing everything. Fate brought these two families together and gave everyone hope for the future.
The Meziere Family
This past weekend, April 30, Project Mercy was fortunate to have four excellent crews building in a variety of locations. Mike Meziere and his family were one of those much appreciated groups. We matched them with the Espinoza Barrios family of seven. Mike’s daughters were excited to work for a family with five daughters, and the result was a beautifully feminine purple house with pink interior walls! Everyone was very excited. Before the build mother Antonia told us that her husband has to look for work constantly and she and her eldest daughters try to keep things going by selling candy on the streets. The Meziere family has given their lives a real boost.
Ware Malcomb Architects
With a lot of support from DPR Construction and Vesta, Matt Brady and Ware Malcomb colleagues jumped in with both feet to build the Mejia Hernandez family a nice new home. The house was funded in part by The Bravo Foundation with a generous additional donation from Matt himself. Being professional framers the DPR construction crew did an excellent job in record time. Efrain Mejia Hernandez works as a street vendor and only earns around $50 per week, but Efrain and Araceli’s children are aiming for the stars. Daughter Maite wants to be a computer programmer and son Jonathan wants to be an astronaut. Matt surprised them both with laptop computers to help them on their way.
Encinitas Rotary
Project Mercy was really pleased to welcome back Encinitas Rotary after a two year hiatus due to the pandemic. Pat Davis spearheaded the event and was equally pleased to be able to welcome a lot of new Rotary and Interact members and share the house building experience with them. Encinitas Rotary has been a supporter of Project Mercy for many years and our longtime framers Chris Malek and Fritz Stelhern got back to working with them with the addition of a couple of our Mexican crew. Their family was the Arce Martinez family of seven. Mother Maria and the two youngest children stayed and played around the new construction all day. When she saw the completed new home, Maria broke down in tears, it was a touching moment for everyone.
Chula Vista Rotary
Long time friends Carmen Sandoval and the Chula Vista Rotary crew worked with the lead of Mike Meziere on April 23 to build a home for Concepcion Ramirez Tafolla and her extended family. Concepcion’s husband died a few years ago and she struggles to raise eight children on her own. Her daughter Alexandra has just had a new baby girl and Carmen was excited to bring them gifts for the baby as well as much needed food and items for the rest of the family. They spend nearly all their hard earned money from selling donuts on the streets, to pay for the land. The gift of a house and supplies paves a new way forward and gives them hope for their future.
Mark Matthews and La Mesa Rotary
Our last and sixth house last week was thanks to La Mesa Rotary, friends colleagues and the San Miguel Interact Club. The large crew worked with construction manager John Zawis and our Mexican crew to build a home for the Godoy Rodriguez Family. Maria, Queban and young Luis Angel were sharing a shack with another family of six people. Maria said ” There are many day to day problems because we don’t have anything”. She told us they desperately wanted their own place. Now those wishes have come true and they can start a new life. Thank you La Mesa Rotary and friends for making their dreams a reality.
