Family Of Six Goes From Cramped Apartment To Fulfilling Dream

Omar Robles came to America from Peru 20 years ago with $20 in his pocket.

Twenty years later, Robles taught himself calculus by watching YouTube videos between helping raise his family of four growing boys along with his wife Martha Soto, who immigrated seven years after her husband.

“Like everyone else, we had a dream,” he said.

“One of those was a house.”

On Tuesday, the family got the best Christmas gift they could have hoped for – their own home on Mill Drive in Bristol Township’s Levittown section.

Through the generosity of Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County, Park Casino, BB&T Bank, Dumack Engineering, Lemus Construction, 111 volunteers and other donors, the Robles-Soto family was presented the keys to their renovated Levitt-build home.

The Peruvian immigrants, their three elementary school-aged sons and 11th grade son Gabriel will be moving into their home in the coming days.

“People like you – who help – is really the best in the world,” Omar Robles, who works in a factory in Penndel, told gathered volunteers before passing out gifts to some of them.

“Thank you for making our dream possible,” Martha Soto said.

The family will be moving to Bristol Township after living in a in a cramped two-bedroom apartment in Warminster. The school-aged boys didn’t have quiet spaces where they could do homework, unwind and play.

“This family has always done everything they can to provide a healthy home. They were frustrated that even though they work hard, a house of their own still seemed so far out of reach,” said Florence Kawoczka, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County.

The family will now have four larger bedrooms and other spaces where they can conformably live.

The Robles-Soto family put more than 150 hours of their own time into building their home and was more than willing to jump over every hurdle that came up during the process, Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County Family Program Director Stefanie Clark said.

Mike Fallon, construction director for the nonprofit, said much of the Mill Drive home was gutted and all the bathrooms were replaced. There’s still some outdoors work to do, but the inside is completed.

The family is financing their new home through an affordable zero-interest Habitatmortgage, Clark said.

Before being renovated, the home was offered to Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County at a reasonable price by the National Community Stabilization Trust.

The home is the 109th home built or completely renovated by Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County since 1990.

Once they were presented the keys to the home, the Robles-Soto family was given a bible and handmade quilts donated by Fairless Hills-based Quilts for Kids and St. Peter Lutheran Church in Hilltown.

Gabriel said his family plans to soon decorate the home for Christmas and is looking forward to moving in.

“This is great, really awesome,” he told reporters.