SAN ANTONIO – It did not arrive in a bright box with a big bow, but Ramona Carrasco and her children see their new home on San Antonio’s Southwest Side very much as a gift.
>> End of year, new beginnings: Habitat for Humanity builds new home for local family
“I have wanted to own a home, I think, pretty much all of my adult life,” Carrasco said. “The cost of owning a home is very high right now. I didn’t see it within my near future.”
The process of becoming a first-time homeowner, though, is now in her past. She signed the paperwork on the four-bedroom, two-bathroom space earlier this month.
Carrasco was one of 67 homeowners in 2025 to benefit from a program run by Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio.
“This is a great milestone for me and my family. My oldest son got to help build the house,” the mother of four said.
Participants in the program are required to put in “sweat equity.”
That’s the name the organization gives to the requirement of working at least 300 hours building homes, often including their own.
Carrasco said she and other relatives went well above that requirement, putting in around 400 hours of work.
Soon after she signed the paperwork, her younger children got busy making plans to decorate, in particular for Christmas.
“I was just saying we should put a Christmas tree over there,” said her youngest son, Christopher Loera, pointing to a corner in the living room. “It’s going to be so exciting.”
Carrasco’s daughter, Carly Loera, was thinking beyond the Christmas tree.
“Some gifts under the tree and lights,” Carly said, excitedly.
Regardless of what Santa may bring the family, Carrasco says she has already received one of the greatest gifts ever, her own home.
“To be able to celebrate Christmas with my children in our own house—we have had rentals, rented a house before-- but it means more that it’s actually ours,” she said.
While the home is large enough for each family member to have a space of their own, Carrasco said the kitchen is one place where she hopes they will all come together.
Carrasco said she is looking forward to whipping up family meals and cooking up some family traditions.
“We do enjoy going to my grandmother’s and cooking with her. I would like to maybe start our own cooking tradition in our house,” she said.
For more information about how to apply to Habitat for Humanity’s homebuyer program, click here.