GOOD NEWS: Coachella Valley Family Gets New Home As Christmas Gift

DESERT HOT SPRINGS – Aracelia Tamayo says she is speechless whenever she thinks about her new four-bedroom home on 4th St.

Habitat for Humanity of the Coachealla Valley awarded her theCoachella;

“Iwas so excited. I was so happy,”Aracelia said. “And then, when they told me it would probably be before Christmas,it even made me more happy. It’s like: Wow,a Christmas present!”

Tamayois a single mother of four. Her family has had to live with the bare minimum at their current home: a mobile home off Indian Ave.

“My oven doesn’t work. I have a little toaster oven. So, it’s going tobe great actually having an oven thatI can actually bake and cook.”

One of her sons Chris, 16,is seeing the house for the very first time. He can’t believe his eyes as he scopes out his bedroom.

It isawelcome change from the brothers’ sleeping arrangements.

“We all sleep in the living room. I sleep on the couch,” he explained.

Aracelia beat out 19 other applicants for this new home. Habitat for Humanity says the decision was based on need, income and current living condition.

For the past year, the family has been living ata mobile home that is half the size of their new house. It has been difficult for the daughter who was a crippling disease known as “sharkos foot.”

She has todeal withthe mobile home’s stairs everyday on crutches.

As part of the deal, Aracelia will volunteer 300 hours building the next Habitat house, the 28th house in the Coachella Valley.

She plans to move-in this weekend and getting a Christmas tree.

It’s proof that a Christmas miracle happened on 4th St.