Building a Life and a Home

“I’ve been in this house for 57 years,” Ms. Vela says, sitting back in her seat. All around her is evidence of a life well-lived: a home that creaks with familiarity, drawings by grandkids, a devoted dog gazing up at her as she speaks. Like many older residents in San Antonio’s Westside and Southside, Ms. Vela still lives in the same neighborhood where she grew up. On the southern end of the Englewood Neighborhood—a neighborhood home to Luther Burbank High School and Rudy’s Seafood—Ms. Vela lives just a block away from her childhood home. “I graduated from Burbank and my kids graduated from Burbank,” she says proudly.

Today, Ms. Vela lives at home with three of her grandkids. “My oldest grandson is taking welding in school and he loves it,” she says. The stories of Ms. Vela’s grandchildren abound. From daily phone calls with the youngest grandkid that bring bouts of laughter, to the joy of seeing yet another family member prepare for college. “If my husband was around, he’d get a kick outta them,” Ms. Vela says happily as she reflects on the family she has built. But being the caretaker for three grandkids in an aging house hasn’t been easy.

Following a debilitating COVID-19 hospitalization and a quadruple bypass surgery shortly after, plus two operations to fix a ruptured pacemaker, Ms. Vela was left weak and unable to navigate her own home. And, as the caretaker for three school-aged grandchildren, Ms. Vela needed critical help making her home accessible.

“It was horrible because all I had was steps and I couldn’t get down. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t stand. Now that I have the ramp it’s like a miracle,” says Ms. Vela. Through Merced’s Owner-Occupied Repair Program (OORP), Ms. Vela’s home underwent extensive repair work, including exterior and interior door replacement, ADA-accessible bathroom modifications, underground sewer line repair, and a new central heat and air system. Other repairs, like the electrical work done around the home, made it possible for Ms. Vela’s pacemaker monitor to be plugged in next to her bed at night. A wooden ramp was subsequently added to the front porch of her house to provide a wheelchair-accessible entry to the home.

While her home underwent repairs and modifications, Ms. Vela was connected to free services provided by the Texas Diaper Bank and Good Samaritan with the help of Merced’s Supportive Services Program. Her three grandchildren received school supplies and Christmas gifts all at no cost to the family. “I don’t know what I would have done without this help,” says Ms. Vela. During home repairs, Merced’s Supportive Services team conducts one-on-one case management with homeowners to connect them with additional resources, such as utility assistance and food security.

“The only thing I ask the lord is to help me walk,” says Ms. Vela as she reflects on the past year. Able to move more independently throughout her home, Ms. Vela is now focused on her weekly physical therapy sessions and her three grandchildren. “They’re doing real good! They got good grades,” she says with a calm happiness in her voice.