Protecting their Home and their Family’s Future
Edna and Eric Doctolero would always worry about their house during typhoons. There was an instance when a very strong typhoon struck the Philippines and their roof was blown off their house, which left them scared and cold. Eric had to go up and fix it despite the heavy rainfall just to make sure that his family is safe and secured.
Since their family is growing, Edna and Eric were also worried about how to increase the family’s household income. The monthly rental income from one room and Eric’s paychecks would not be enough to support the entire family, send their three kids to school and prepare for their future.
The Doctolero house before it was retrofit.
Edna and Eric decided to have their house fixed and strengthened so it will be ready for typhoons or other disasters. At the same time, they wanted to renovate their house, splitting their one room for rent into two, so they could earn additional income.
They learned about Build Change from their neighbours, who had attended meetings and explained the retrofit program to them. They discovered that Build Change helps homeowners to strengthen their homes in preparation for disasters, especially for the “The Big One” (a magnitude 7+ earthquake predicted to hit Metro Manila). They also saw that several neighbours had ongoing retrofit projects, so they were comforted that the program wasn’t a scam.
Edna, Eric and their daughter Euna after signing the contract to retrofit their house.
Build Change gave Edna and Eric an opportunity to get a loan to strengthen their house. They would not have been able to afford to fix their house all at once, but the monthly loan payment is affordable for their family. They even hope to make advance payments when they have extra funds so they can pay down the loan faster.
Edna says that the retrofit program helped the family “to not worry about disasters anymore. It also helped us prepare for the future of our kids. Build Change is a big blessing for us and it totally helped our family in so many ways.”
Edna also said “Build Change Staff is fun to be with. They seem to get along really well. They are all kind and easy to get along with. It was not hard for us to trust them and to tell them if there’s something wrong or if we have questions. If there are issues they can resolve it immediately. It felt like they are part of the family.”
Edna and Eric have just completed retrofitting their house, just in time for the start of the 2018 rainy season. They have added a second room for rent and will soon look for tenants. Edna says she “feels that change is about to come”, and she feels really happy about it. She feels like she has a safe living environment, she loves the aesthetic changes to her house, and all of this makes her feel confident – and less worried for her family’s future.
Edna Doctolero, her daughter and son in their retrofit house.