SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The January floods brought a close community even closer. That strong support for neighbors drew us to come back again and again to learn more about the bonds that grew over the months. Many of my colleagues followed through with people's stories of struggle and perseverance.
Nothing highlights this more than when we saw how the community helped 82-year-old Rosalva Belmontez finally return home eight months after the floods ravaged her home.
"Nervous, nervous," Belmontez said.
That's how Belmontez described her feelings before walking into her Emerald Hills home for the first time in almost eight months.
"Aye — mira — que bonito!" she said as she returned home.
New appliances, new furniture and even new decorations adorned her refurbished home.
"Look at my lamp!" she said joyfully.
Everything for her is new, because everything she had before went underwater.
"Jan. 22 — I never forget that day, OK?" Belmontez said. "Oh my gosh, water come to here, and I don't have enough shoes and a lot of water, a lot of my clothes... Everything destroyed."
She moved in with her daughter but was bedridden for almost a week.
"One week, I can't walk like this... There's a lot of water... a lot of everything," she said.
But without flood insurance, the question became how would she get back home. ABC 10News has been following through on the journey, from a volunteer clean up of the home in June, to watching Rosalva get active again, to walking through the home with her daughters.
The Harvey Family Foundation first took on the project in July, and in a matter of a couple of months, Rosalva can finally move back in.
"Thank you so much... Everything is so beautiful; I want to cry," she said. "I feel like a millionaire."
It wasn't a million-dollar project, but it cost about $200,000. And it was completed at a fraction of that price — a model the foundation hopes to replicate with cooperation.
Armon Harvey, the leader of the foundation, explained that playing financial gymnastics was the only way to get Rosalva back inside. He says there were certain areas where funding and grants from his group were able to address, while money from FEMA and insurance had to be used elsewhere.
Additionally, donations and contractors who volunteered their time helped round out the project.
"What's your favorite part of the house?" I asked Rosalva.
"Everything. Everything outside, inside. Everything is beautiful," she responded.
But there are still dozens of more families on the waiting list to receive help from the foundation, and dozens more who aren't on the waiting list because of a lack of funding.
In just the last couple of weeks, Harvey says they had about 50 more houses sign up needing help. He blames a lack of information.
Many people have been waiting on insurance companies, who told them not to touch anything, but only take pictures.
As you can imagine — some families left their homes in disrepair since January, and now that they're realizing help may not be coming, they reached out to the Harvey Family Foundation. But until they can raise more money, we won't be able to see people going back home, like we saw in Rosalva's case.
If you're interested in contributing to the cause, you can follow this link to the foundation's website.
