New homes, new hope and $1.4 million raised by Season for Caring

With smiles on their faces, the children of Juana Betancurt show visitors around their rooms in their new home.

"It's very nice," said Jose Parra-Betancurt, 13. He shows off his closet where he hangs his clothes, the bin where he puts his shoes, the space in his room where he keeps his backpack — and most important his new bed.

"I can finally sleep here," said Isaac Parra-Betancurt, 11.

Before Isaac, Jose, their five siblings and mother Juana Betancurt, 38, were selected for the Statesman's Season for Caring program last fall, they lived in a two-bedroom apartment. Jose, Isaac and brother Ezequiel, 10, slept in the living room. Their youngest sister, mother and youngest brother slept in one room. The eldest girls slept in another room.

When their landlord wouldn't renew their lease in December, they moved into a motel.

SAFE Alliance, which helps victims of domestic violence, was able to move the family to a four-bedroom home in Pflugerville last month and help pay the rent using Season for Caring donations while Betancurt launches her own cleaning business.

The house has changed her children, she said. "They are a lot calmer," Betancurt said. "Coming here, being here, did them so much good."

Before Leslie Romero, 33, and her five children were nominated by Any Baby Can for Season for Caring, they lived in a small three-bedroom apartment that had repeated water damage from broken pipes — first from the February 2021 freeze, then from the small freeze in December. That last time, a bedroom and living room were soaked on Christmas Eve.

In January, they moved into a new four-bedroom house in Manor. It has room for Romero's son Amari, 3, who is developmentally delayed and has had multiple surgeries on his legs, to do his physical therapy. In the apartment, Amari got around their space by rolling. In the house, he's learned to walk on his knees around the much-bigger rooms. That was Romero's dream: to have the space for Amari to make progress.

"We are so grateful," she said.

Son Anthony Lira, 10, said of his new home, their first house: "It's a lot of space for us to move around. It works out for us pretty well."

"There's a big backyard so I can play," said Adrian Lira, 7. With a gift card from Academy Sports + Outdoors, Romero is planning on buying a swing set for the kids.

These are two of the 11 families featured in the 24th Statesman Season for Caring program. Since the program began Thanksgiving weekend, the community has raised $1,264,029 in monetary donations and $143,930 in in-kind donations, for a total of $1,407,959.

It was the third-best year in the program's history and the sixth year Season for Caring has crossed the $1 million mark. Since 1999, the program has raised more than $18.4 million for local nonprofit organizations.

The money raised will help the featured families first, but then will help hundreds of other families that are served by the nonprofit organizations in the program. The agencies are able to help clients with basic needs such as rent, groceries, transportation, utilities and medical bills throughout the year with Season for Caring funds.

This year, a matching $500,000 donation from the Sheth family made a huge difference as did a $250,000 donation from Pat Munday. These were the big donations, but small donations of $5, $10, $25 added up as did people using families' Amazon wish lists to give them everything from hairbows to furniture.

Read more: How to help families through the Statesman Season for Caring program

Season for Caring brought out the community, businesses and volunteers in different ways.

• People flocked to P. Terry's Burger Stand restaurants on Dec. 10 and raised $35,021.

• Factory Mattress donated $36,691 in beds to the featured families.

• Firehouse Animal Health Centers gave families $10,000 worth of veterinarian care.

• Capital Area Dental Foundation provided dental screenings and follow-up care.

• The Driskill Hotel gathered area pastry chefs to create Cookies for Caring tins to raise $6,825 for Season for Caring, and it hosted a family for its tree lighting and an overnight stay in its best suite.

• Academy Sports + Outdoors treated five families to a shopping event worth $1,000 each.

• The kids at Grisham Middle School rallied the community and collected $20,000 worth of gifts for one family.

• Austin Community College helped three families with tuition or job possibilities.

Among the highlights for the other nine featured families:

• Araceli Ramirez, 49, who has stage 4 breast cancer that has progressed to her lungs, is still in treatment. It's not time to give up hope yet, she said. Her son, Jesus, 22, who delayed college to take care of his mom, is now back in school at Austin Community College. He plans to study international business. Breast Cancer Resource Center will be able to pay off his truck and pay for two years of rent, so that he can complete a degree.

• Naquisha Taylor, 33, is now in a fully furnished, three-bedroom apartment because of monetary donations to Caritas of Austin, as well as in-kind donations from St. Martin's Lutheran Church and Amazon wish list purchases. Taylor has moved her children into her home after years of her being homeless.

• Shogufa Afshar, 39, who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan with her three children after her husband was killed, had almost all of the family's wishes met by the elves at Grisham Middle School and Interfaith Action of Central Texas.

• Sandra Stephenson, 66, received a second opinion from Dr. Armitage Harper at Austin Retina Associates to improve her vision, which has been impacted by diabetes. On-Call Management Services trimmed the trees in her yard, and she received many items, including a stove, tablet and icemaker. Interfaith Action of Central Texas will work with her to complete more of her wish list.

• Anatole Lee, 58, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury, saw the community fulfill many of the items on his wish list, including tools to help him resume doing odd jobs. He was nominated by Family Eldercare.

• Joey Jimenez, 28, who has brain cancer, saw his home made more livable thanks to repairs from the Chavez family. Texas Ramp Project is helping him get wheelchair ramps. Good Guys Tree Service provided tree trimming. Austin Founders Lions Club and the Round Rock Lions Club worked together to get his brother JonPaul, 17, new glasses. Bill Usry repaired the family car. Melody Chatelle donated money toward a headstone for Jimenez and Affordable Burial & Cremation Service is donating a deluxe graveside service for Jimenez. The family, including mom Michelle, was nominated by Hospice Austin.

• Jae Lee, 33, a veteran who is in school to become a social worker, was able to fill his Academy basket with clothes for himself and his daughter. Foundation Communities is helping him with rent while he continues school and will help with other wish list items that haven't been fulfilled.

• Roland Kemokai, 42, and his wife, Christine, 38, were able to visit family in Liberia and North Carolina. Health Alliance for Austin Musicians is working with them on a more secure living situation than the RV where they are living with their two sons Ben, 15, and Clement, 17.

• Sheri Harvey, 80, who has debilitating pain from arthritis, had many of her needs fulfilled by the community for incontinence supplies through her wish list on Amazon. AGE of Central Texas was able to use Season for Caring funds to help pay the back rent at her senior living center, which gave her son, Scott, peace of mind.

Find out more

Read the past Season for Caring stories at statesman.com/seasonforcaring. To become a nominating agency in the 25th Season for Caring, email community@statesman.com or call 512-445-3590.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin families move into new homes with Season for Caring funds