SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A San Diego military family that bought a house and lost their savings trying to fix it up is finally getting the help they need.
Rebuilding Together San Diego gets hundreds of requests for assistance every year, they've never seen a house in such bad shape.
Patricia Covarrubias is giggling and happy as she gives us a tour of her home in ruins. She washes her dishes in her yard, because she doesn't have running water in her kitchen. For that she needs to go to her bathroom sink, which doesn't work either. She and her family showers using a pot of water they warm on their stove.
"We don't have anything. We don't have electricity, no water, we can't take a bath every single day," Patricia's daughter Angela Ramirez said.
Angela's brother and sister are both serving in the Army – one in El Centro, the other in Korea. That means the 15-year-old is helping to raise her two nieces, Emily and JZ, as well as her nephew Brian, under almost impossible conditions.
"Yeah but it's hard. I have to go to school, I have tests then I have to come here. It's just a lot of stress," Angela said.
The work that needs to be done is so overwhelming, the nonprofit group Rebuilding Together San Diego should have said no to the project, but just couldn't
"For me it's wrong that Patricia's kids are serving in the military, and that she has to live like this," Cheryl Keenan of Rebuilding Together San Diego said.
Keenan wants to stress this family is not a charity case. Patricia is just a grandmother who needs some help.
"She's always laughing, she's always upbeat," she said.
Although the family lives on a dead end road, kindness from strangers is giving hope to the military family that lives on Mount Hope, along with tears of joy.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Angela said.
"I love them. They've just become part of our family and I think they feel the same way with us. We would be so remiss if we didn't help them. If our team has to do it by ourselves without donations, we will make this happen," Keenan said.
Rebuilding Together San Diego is looking for corporate sponsorship and private donations to help fund the project. If you'd like to offer your assistance, CLICK HERE>>>.