Sheltering at Home

We recently reached out to one of our Habitat families to check-in and see how they are adapting to this time of sheltering in place. Homeowners Roberto Hernandez and Viviana Trejo – along with their children Jayden (11) and Allyson (6), and Roberto’s mother Evangelina – have been in their Napa home for over a year now.

“From the very beginning this house felt like home,” said Viviana. “Having our own space meant I could finally host gatherings, and I can’t even count how many celebrations we’ve had here. My birthday, a Halloween party, an ugly sweater party for Christmas, New Years, and more. This first year in our home was wonderful, and has been all about sharing it with family and friends.”

Roberto works in construction and Viviana works at Napa Valley College, and now with the school closures they are grateful to have Roberto’s mother living in the home with them to help care for the children. They’ve enjoyed having a backyard to play in and lots of family walks in the neighborhood.

“I’ve been really grateful for our home during this time,” said Viviana. “The kids both have plenty of space to do activities, be in their rooms, play in the garage, kick a ball around in the yard, and color with chalk on the sidewalk. I’ve also been gardening in the backyard.”

The most exciting addition to their home has been a new puppy! Back in 2018 when their home was being built, the children were most excited about their parent’s promise to get a family dog. On Valentine’s Day of this year, Roberto and Viviana fulfilled that promise and adopted a border collie / labrador retriever mix from the local animal shelter and named him “Blue” in honor of the Dodgers.

“Blue is very smart and has lots of energy,” said Viviana. “He can already do tricks and is very well behaved, and we all love cuddling and playing with him.”

Thanks to Viviana for allowing us to interview her and giving us an update on their lives. Hearing about their family during these times has been a helpful reminder of the significant work we do here at Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity. Providing safe, reliable shelter and building stability and self-reliance for local families is critical now more than ever before, and will continue to be at the heart of what we do for our community.