Mercedes couple raising 5 grandchildren inside home in disrepair

1 week ago 48

The United Way of South Texas is collecting contributions for the family, which will receive 100% of all donations. You can help them by calling the United Way of South Texas at (956) 686-6331 and ask about the Spirit of Christmas campaign.

MERCEDES — For the last six years, Antonia Uribe, 69, and Vicente Diaz, 70, have helped raise five grandchildren and while Antonia said it is a labor of love, nothing is impossible when family’s on your side.

What started with one grandchild in 2018 has amounted to having five of them live with her. Each child’s parents reside in Mexico and sent them to live with their grandparents to get a better education and opportunities in life.

“I say this with a lot of pride that they’re all excellent students and I think that’s why I get so much support from their schools,” Antonia said.

Even before living with their grandmother, she said all of her grandkids had a strong bond with her over the years.

“There are no hardships when you do everything with love,” she said.

Relying on her husband’s limited income, Antonia does get support from the grandchildren’s parents when they can but it is no easy task to raise five children at their age, or at any age.

The oldest of the five grandchildren are Kaarin Izaguirre, 17, and Edward Herbert, 15, who have taken up more responsibilities around the house to help their grandmother.

Both are planning to attend college when they graduate from high school.

“It’s hard to be away from my mom but I do my best every day to go to school and get good grades for her,” Kaarin said.

Edward having two siblings with him at the house said it’s also hard but over the years has gotten more used to it.

“It doesn’t feel that bad being this far apart but at the same time, very often, I wish I could be there with them,” he said of his parents. “Even for just a few days and just being able to talk to my parents and not having to worry about them being far apart …”

It doesn’t help, however, that Antonia and Vicente have a stove that doesn’t work all the time. For a household of seven, this can be a problem.

The stove only has about half of the burners working, with the oven not functioning as well.

Laundry is also a hard situation in her household, with the family relying on one washer and no dryer. So they have to air dry their clothes.

In addition to those issues, Antonia said another priority would be finishing certain sections of her home to have a dedicated laundry room and an extra room for her grandchild to live more comfortably.

The family said it would be a blessing to them if they could receive assistance in fixing those issues around the house.

Antonia said that aside from the priorities in the household, clothing is also a thing the family could use. With all the grandchildren growing up, she said it is a struggle to keep buying clothes that fit them.