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MONTE ALTO — San Juana Aguirre tries her best to give her household the best quality of life, but she says she needs help in various ways.
In a household of 10 people, including seven children, San Juana said the situation in the home is getting difficult from dealing with home repairs, a lack of adequate beds and falling behind on rent and utility bills.
“I am the mom and dad for my children,” she said in Spanish. “I don’t have a husband so I’ll always be the one providing for them and sometimes I do get depressed. They come knocking asking for the rent and I don’t have it and it worries me.”
Falling behind on bills is a dire area of need with only her eldest son, Susano, 18, and daughter, Magaly, 16, working at the moment. Aguirre said Susano had to drop out of high school to help support the family. She said they are holding garage sales to help with the bills, but she wishes she could help more.
Her household also consists of Dalaris, 4, Angel, 5, Brianda, 10, Brianna, 12, Nallely, 14, Andres, 15, and her father Horacio, 73.
Her family moved to the house recently due to a conflict at their previous home that necessitated the move. San Juana had to act quickly, or face homelessness.
She said the house was abandoned and poorly constructed prior to moving in but it was all they could afford. Though she’s made improvements to the home such as painting the inside of the house herself, it still needs major home repairs.
The roof of the house has several leaks in the washing room with the washer itself also having problems with leaks and not working at times. The dryer also hardly works.
This causes San Juana to rely on a local laundromat but with a family of 10 this is a major inconvenience since it is six miles away and the family SUV experiences problems with the battery.
The house also has plumbing issues.
Another dire need for the family is adequate beds and bed frames. With as many as four to a bed at times, San Juana said getting beds for the family would be greatly appreciated.
She is looking for bunk beds for the small children and queen or king beds for her teenagers, herself and her father.
With the house having no central heating, San Juana said blankets for each bed and heaters would also be very useful for these next couple of months.
On top of dealing with the problems at home, her son, Andres, has been battling with leukemia since 2014. With receiving help to take care of medical expenses, Andres has to go to Houston for treatment and medical procedures. This causes more hardships due to Aguirre having to take her son, leaving her father to take care of the children.
She said Andres is currently in remission, hoping that their next trip to Houston this month brings more positive news.
“We’re going to get some tests done and I hope everything is still good,” San Juana said. “I pray there isn’t a problem because all the (chemotherapy) he’s got since 2014 caused him several problems.”
With several necessities needed for her family, she said she feels sad not being able to give her children presents.
“I hope there are good-hearted people that could help us in any way,” San Juana said.
To help, call the United Way of South Texas at (956) 686-6331 and inquire about this family and the Spirit of Christmas campaign. The Monitor has partnered with the United Way of South Texas to garner support for Rio Grande Valley families in need of monetary donations, or other items and gifts specified in this story.
