© 2008 Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity • P.O. Box 7124 • Tacoma, Washington 98417 • (253) 627-5626	Email Us	Quarterly Newsletter	Webmaster

Meet Our Homeowners

The Pringle Family

Tianna and Shevon write: "We had tried to buy a house for about a year back in 2004, but the skyrocketing home prices put homeownership way out of reach. So we rented our house just to find out that all of the pipes are rusted out and our landlord does not want to replace them all. The house has absolutely no insulation, 100 year old single pane windows, and mold throughout. We now have Jamillia (4), Jamika (1), and Jamirie (2 weeks), and basically all 5 of us are squeezed into one bedroom. We are all so very excited to finally have a place to call home. Rooms of our own. Walls to paint. Pictures to hang, and memories to make. We are also looking forward to living in a community where we can get to know our neighbors; our kids can have friends to grow up with. This is a lifelong dream come true and prayer answered."

The Sirbu Family

by Brandon Schmidt, Family Partner

The Sirbu family comes from Moldova. Gheorghe and Svetlana were born in the villages of Dezhgina and Komrad, respectively, in the country’s southern region, but various work opportunities brought them throughout Europe and the Near East. The couple met in 1996 while studying to be bakers in the Czech Republic. They were married in 1997, Sveta a midwife at the time and Gheorghe working as a welder and a bricklayer. Oleg, now 10, was born in November of that year. The family also spent a number of years living and working in Turkey, and Gheorghe and Sveta both speak Russian, Turkish, English, and Moldovan.

The Sirbus won green cards in 2001 and subsequently immigrated to the United States in 2004. Their twin daughters, Jasmine and Olivia, were born in November of 2006. All five of them now live in a small two-bedroom apartment, the son in one room and the rest of the family (the parents and twins) in the other. Gheorghe has to sleep on the couch in the living room if he wants to get any rest at night before work. The family is grateful for the opportunity to live in a home where they can flourish.

The Damian Family

by Family Partners Mike & Marcia Madden

The Damians moved directly to Tacoma from Balti, Moldova in 2003. It was not an easy decision to leave their home, their friends and their family. Their small town had a lake nearby where they could fish and forests where they could play. They all miss Leonid’s father who Leonid describes with pride as “the funniest man in Balti.”

But life was difficult. There were no jobs for Leonid nearby, so he would need to leave home for weeks and months at a time often leaving his country for jobs in Italy and other countries. Even then jobs were difficult and sometimes he would lose money in bribes or to thieves.

While away Leonid greatly missed his wife, Emilia, his son Niccolai (now 12), and his two daughters Olga (now 11) and Alina (now 9). They wanted to live a life with more hope and especially to be able to live together as a family.

The Damians came to America and to Tacoma because other families from their country had come here for the same reasons and encouraged them to come to America also. Leonid is a very talented man and a very good provider. He has found work as a painter and even though he still needs to travel to jobs he is able to come home every night. Thanks to Emilia, their current, two bedroom rental apartment in Tacoma is warm and welcoming, but much too small for their family.

The family is looking forward to moving into their new Habitat home. There they can continue to enjoy being together as a family but in a decent home of their own. The children can continue to have their dad at home and also “get lunch at school”, which along with our wonderful parks and zoo is what they like most about living here.

The Damians are a terrific family. Both Leonid and Emilia speak five languages, are raising three happy and enthusiastic children and the whole family is musical. Leonid has inherited his father’s sense of humor, which comes through despite our language barrier. We are looking forward to many years of friendship with them.

The Nguyen Family

We’d like to welcome Thuong Thuong Nguyen to the Habitat for Humanity Family. Known to all of us as “TT” she has resided with her parents for over a year and a half sharing one bedroom with her two children: Amy born January 9, 2002 and Andy who was born January 2, 2003. As the children grow, the room just gets smaller! She will welcome the added space and bedrooms for the children. Amy and Andy attend McCarver Head Start in Tacoma, and Amy enters kindergarten Amy this fall.

TT was born in Vietnam on March 25, 1983. Her family lived just two hours from Saigon; she was 12 when the family came to America. She loves the warm weather of Vietnam, but loves it here in the Northwest also.

She is a fabulous cook bringing food to the jobsite every Thursday to share with those helping her. Ken La Belle raves about her wonderful Vietnamese food on a weekly basis.

TT earns her living by working as a hairdresser in Fife at a Vietnamese hair salon. She has worked very hard to earn her hairdresser license, going to school for over two years while living in Oakland and caring for her two children.

With her hours at work, her days off are Thursday and Sunday. On Thursday she dedicates her day to her sweat equity hours. She is fortunate to have family members who can work for her time along with Family Partners Ken La Belle who works at the job site and his wife Priscilla who volunteers at the ReStore and office.

TT had to apply twice to be accepted for Habitat for Humanity and is glad she did not get discouraged after her first application! Now she can anticipate buying her own home.