A brighter future for Verania in Costa Rica

Verania Gomes Centeno is 25 years old, a single mother of three young children, Jarel is 6 years old, Genesis is 4 years old and Joshua is 2 years old.

She has lived her whole life with her parents in a 70-year old home that is overrun with termites and a large number of holes which let in water every time it rains. This house only has two bedrooms, one is where Verania and her three children sleep and the other is where her mother and two brothers sleep. However, the overcrowded home is the least of Verania’s concerns.

Verania’s brothers have frequently gotten themselves in to trouble through their drug addiction which doesn’t just negatively affect themselves but also the lives of Verania’s three young kids—Jarel, Genesis and Joshua. The kids are often exposed to their uncles doing drugs in the house or getting in to fights on the street—and Verania has a hard time explaining to her young kids why their uncles are doing what they are doing.

At the same time, Verania’s relationship with her alcoholic father is strained. His aggression and his fiscal abuse of her is a regular occurrence in their home and has even resulted in him threatening to take her life.

Due to the urgent need to remove this family from their unsafe living situation, Habitat Costa Rica and another local community development organization have worked collaboratively to provide this young mother with the opportunity to raise her children in a safe environment.

After a year of completing the requirements of Habitat’s program, this June Verania and her children moved in to their new home, that not only offers them protection from the heat and rain but also gives them a safe and healthy place for their family to grow