Latino restaurant owner asks for help to build a home for a family in Mexico

Since 2019, Marcus Avila and his wife Katie Avila have been helping build homes for families in need across the border through the nonprofit that has been doing the same work since 1990. 

Now, for the first time, the Latino restaurant owners of Avila’s El Ranchito, are inviting the public to help raise funds to build the eighth home for a family in need in Mexico through Homes of Hope, which is a religious organization of Christians from many cultures and age groups.

In 1966, Salvador and Margarita Avila, originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, opened their very first Avila’s El Ranchito. Today, it has grown into a family-owned Mexican restaurant group serving Southern California, with each location independently run by a member of the Avila family. Together they preserve Mama Avila’s authentic recipes and traditions.

Going once or twice a year, the Avila family, alongside community members and volunteers, has aided seven families with beautiful homes to date.

“We had done other service projects before, but building a home for a family felt different,” Marcus said. “It wasn’t just a one-time act of kindness. It was something that changed the trajectory of their life. There's a double meaning in the foundation of these homes for us; it’s not just the literal foundation the house sits on, it’s the foundation a family gets to build their whole life from after that.”

Through a public donation drive, they are now asking individuals to help them build their eighth home for another family this October. Their goal is to raise a total of  $15,000. All of the contributions go directly toward materials, logistics and the furnishings that turn the finished house into a home.

Every Homes of Hope build ends with a special tradition. While the family goes on a grocery shopping spree, volunteers stay behind to finish the last details, such as assembling furniture and setting up the home for the family.

When the family returns, the keys are passed around the group hand to hand, as a blessing is said over the family and their new home. Then the family walks inside, alone, for the first time. Marcus said that standing outside that door, listening to them, is the moment that gets him emotional after every home they built. 

“It's raw and it’s real. Then the rest of us go in to celebrate with them, and it changes something in you too,” he said. “ You go there thinking you’re the one giving, but you leave having received just as much.”

Rooted in the journey of first-generation immigrants who came to the United States pursuing a brighter future, the Avila family’s passion for supporting others is a deeply personal legacy passed down through generations.

“At the core of it, we believe everyone deserves an equal shot in life, and family has always been at the center of everything we do,” said Marcus. “When you take away the daily stress of sleeping on a dirt floor or living without real shelter, you free a family up to actually build something for themselves instead of just surviving. It changes the whole environment for the kids too, having a home to come back to give them a sense of security that shapes everything else.”

To donate, visit: Homes Of Hope Fundraising.