Millagro (Milly) Cuevas heard about Miami Habitat for Humanity a few years ago while on campus at Florida International University. She was intrigued with the idea of helping others while learning valuable skills she could apply to her study of architecture. However, due to her busy student schedule, Milly thought of volunteering as something she simply couldn't commit the time to. This spring she was surfing the web and stumbled across the Miami Habitat website, where she read about the organization's 6th Annual Blitz Build.  Sensing this was her opportunity to get involved without sacrificing her study time, she recruited her friend Luvy Rivas and became the first volunteer to register online. But how did what was supposed to be one day of volunteering turn into nine for her and Luvy?

“We came out the first day of the Blitz, and were instantly hooked on the satisfaction of helping the Martinez family fulfill their dream,” Milly explains. She and Luvy were assigned to House # 8 during the build, with homeowners Felicta and Santos Martinez. The two first-time volunteers also knew this was a great opportunity to try new things and learn new skills, including “how to hammer properly,” Luvy adds.

Milly, who was on break from school, and Luvy, who worked evenings at a movie theater, realized around noon the first day that they had the time to volunteer for the rest of the build, even if it meant showing up every morning for the next eight days at 7am. They made the commitment that afternoon, and geared up to help out the Overtown community. Felicita Martinez thanks God for sending great volunteers to help her work on her house, especially Milly and Luvy. She beamed, “The girls kept coming back everyday, and it was so much fun to work with them, so even though we worked very hard, we had a very good time.”