HOUSTON – After months of hard work, we're just one week away from the habitat home dedication ceremony.
It's a labor of love, but worth every second.
One very deserving local family will move into a home built by volunteers, including employees from Channel 2.
Owen Conflenti and Rachel McNeill got the chance to surprise the family and let them know they're getting a new home at Houston Habitat for Humanity headquarters.
Conflenti and McNeill burst in on Abdel and Laila Amraoui at the headquarters. The family thought they were there to sign some paperwork, but we were happy to tell them they were selected as our KPRC Habitat Family.
"It was like a big dream and to get the big house really we cannot believe that," Laila said. "We are so happy. We are so excited. Thank you habitat, thank you."
It's the American Dream for the Amraoui family. Abdel, a polio survivor, came to the states from Casablanca as a student of economics in 2001.
"I had $825 in my pocket thinking it would be enough when I came to the U.S. Came to Houston. It lasted for like a week then I became homeless in Houston," he said.
With hard work and determination, he pulled through. He learned English and got a full-time job with the IRS in the Taxpayer-Advocacy Division.
He waited eight years for Laila to join him.
Now he's happy his two sons and daughter will finally have a house to call home.
"We're so excited to get out and move to a better place," Abdel said. "To them its going to be a big change. They're going to have their own space where they can do their homework -- have their own area -- it's big for us."
The family is planning a Moroccan feast as a thank you to Habitat and its volunteers.
The dedication ceremony is a week from today.