In 2011, the UW-Madison Campus Chapter of Habitat for Humanity will be sponsoring and building a home for the Vang/Cheng Family. Construction began on October 1. You can find a message from the family below.

My name is Neng Cheng.  I was born in Laos. I am married to Song Vang. My husband was born in Thailand. We have five children; four boys and one girl. Their names are Kemen, Eric, Lorina, Benjamin and Mark. 

Kemen will be 6 this year. He will be attending Frank Allis elementary school.  Eric will be four this year. Lorina my only girl; will be three this year. Benjamin my sleepy head will be two this year and, Mark my baby will be one this year. They are the joy of my life.    

My husband and I met eight years ago. We have been married for six years. When my husband and I first got married, we lived with my in-laws, as it was the custom of our culture. But, after two years we moved out and lived by ourselves. After awhile, we ended up living in the apartment that we are living in now. The apartment that we live in now is horrible. The neighborhood is not the best and the apartment is infested with cockroaches and our managers do not really seem to care. They are just trying to make profit off us and do not really care about what kinds of conditions we are living in.  

We’ve been trying to find a better place for us. But, every time we found a place, they would either deny us because there are too many of us or the price is too high and we can’t afford it. We have now been living in the same apartment for three years and things are not getting any better. 

My dream is to have my own house one day. My six year old always ask my husband “daddy when are you going to go buy a home for us?” Whenever my husband and I hear that we would just laugh it off.  But, really we were sad that we could not provide a home for them.            

One day, my sister-in-law told me about Habitat for Humanity.  We were not really sure what it was but, my sister-in-law took us to one of the meeting to see if we were interested.  We went to the meeting and find it very interested so, we signed up for the program.  When we heard that we got in we were very happy.  We shared the news with our sister-in-law; she was happy for us. We are so happy and grateful because one of our dreams is to be able to own a house of our own and soon it well be realized.      

I cannot say how grateful I am to the Habitat for Humanity of Dane County volunteers for giving us a chance to live out our dreams. Thank you the volunteers so much for taking time away from you own time and devoting it to help build  our home Thank you volunteers for giving us a home so that our children can grow up happy and healthy in a house filled with love and warmth.

Thank you,  Neng Chang & Song Vang