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Housing's Helping Hands
Sandy and Edgard Romero with their children, Kelvin, 11, left, and Edgard Jr., 14, in their condo near Gallaudet University. The family bought the condo from a D.C. charity.
(Ricky Carioti - The Washington Post)
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She said she bought squiggly, energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs and saved $20 to $25 a month on her electric bill. She changed her home phone and cellphone plans to basic ones, getting rid of such frills as call forwarding "that we really don't know how to use."
[an error occurred while processing this directive]"They taught me how to read a bill," said Romero, who recently joined the Manna board. "All the extra things added up."
Sherane Berkeley, a reservation manager at a local hotel, also learned some things at Manna.
"That Starbucks you want to get every week, that adds up," she said. "It taught me to save money and put it aside."
Now she's about to move into a three-bedroom, 2 1/2 -bath duplex that Manna built with volunteers in Northeast Washington.
"It's part of everybody's dream," she said. "I'm a single parent with my son. I'm thinking about him. I'm thinking about his future. I really want a quality of life for my son and I."
Stefan, 16, echoed his mother's enthusiasm.
"I'm thinking, living so long in apartments, it's kind of exciting to know that your mom has found a new place," he said. "Pretty soon, we're going to be in our own place. I'm, like, speechless."
