Single mother gets assistance to build a home

Affordable homes are hard to come by, but thanks to Hand in Hand Ministries’ “Build for Change Program”; a single mother of four is getting the assistance she needs to a build house and make a home. Sharon Dominguez, who is currently unemployed, applied to the program in February of this year and has been working with Hand in Hand since then. Build for Change is teaming up with Atlantic Bank to build Dominguez a house on her Vernon Street property and she is expected to have the keys by Monday. But it’s not just a handout; Dominguez and her family are assisting with the construction of the house and will be hard at work the entire weekend. And because the program aims to set the beneficiaries firm on their feet, it also offers educational training in social integration, hygiene, neighborly love and basic financing. Today, News Five spoke with director of Special Programs at Hand in Hand Ministries, Bernard Panton, to find out what Dominguez can expect when the construction is complete.

Bernard Panton, Director of Special Programs, Hand in Hand Ministries
“The cost is about fourteen thousand dollars and it is expected that the house will be built and completed by Sunday.”

Duane Moody
“Two days to complete a house?”

Bernard Panton
“Well, we’ve already started a foundation. The workers at Hand in Hand have started since yesterday and the workers of Atlantic Bank will come on Saturday and Sunday to complete a full house.”

Duane Moody
“What type of home will it be?”

Bernard Panton
“It will be a sixteen by sixteen overlapped siding, pine on three block height and it will be painted on the outside and it will also enclose a four by eight area for a bathroom.”

Sharon Dominguez, Recipient, Home from Hand in Hand Ministries
“I feel very appreciative and I would like to say thanks to Atlantic Bank and to Hand in Hand because if it wasn’t for Hand in Hand I wouldn’t have known the goodness of the Atlantic Bank people. So on behalf of my family and myself, a very big thank you to both of the entities.”

Dominguez’ residence is the sixteenth home built by Hand in Hand Ministries this year. For their next project, house number seventeen, the organization will be working with the Belize Bank.