“Zero-cost” houses

Loving homes

In early March 2025, Ms. Luong Thi Bong, Cay Nhoi village, Tan Thanh commune, was moved into a new, spacious, airy, clean house worth over 158 million VND. Ms. Bong's family is a poor household, living for many years in a level 4 house that is not safe. Ms. Bong excitedly said: "In early 2025, the Compassionate Hands Charity Association, Yen Lang Parish ( Thai Nguyen ) called for support of 48 million VND and supported working days to build me a new house. My house was also supported by the People's Committee of Tan Thanh commune with 20 million VND. I am very grateful for the attention and help of the district and commune authorities, especially the Compassionate Hands Charity Association, which stood up to mobilize benefactors to join hands to build me a big and beautiful house like today".

The Compassionate Arms Charity Association is building a house for Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, Mien Tay village, Khang Nhat commune (Son Duong).

For more than half of their lives, Nguyen Thi Hoa and her child, a poor household in Mien Tay village, Khang Nhat commune, have lived in a makeshift house. Having a decent house is something that Hoa never dared to think about. Because Hoa suffers from adrenal insufficiency, blood allergy, and divorce, the two of them live together, so life is very difficult. Just a few months ago, the mother and child were always afraid that the house would collapse at any time. The makeshift thatched roof was crooked, and the wall could collapse every time there was heavy rain or strong wind. To help the mother and child ease their difficulties, the Charity Association and the commune government came to the scene to examine and support the construction of a new house for the mother and child. In early April 2025, the house was started to be built, with the spirit of the Charity Association and Yen Lang Parish (Thai Nguyen) supporting the construction of the house with a budget of over 200 million VND.

Ms. Le Thi Thanh Xuan, Chairwoman of the Charity Association of Compassionate Arms, shared: “In order for each newly built house to start construction and be completed on time, the members of the Association divided the work among themselves; some wrote posts on Facebook, Zalo, and Tiktok to call for support, while others connected to support construction materials. As the President, I myself coordinated with local authorities to go to each household to verify the specific circumstances, then came back to develop a plan to call for support from the community.”

Join hands to build houses for the disadvantaged

The Compassionate Arms Volunteer Association was established in 2018, and currently has 42 members across the country. The purpose of the Association is to help those in difficult circumstances throughout the province, striving to build a new house for poor households and those in difficult circumstances each year. Implementing the Project to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses for poor households in the province in the period of 2021 - 2025, in 2023, the Compassionate Arms Volunteer Association coordinated with the Fatherland Front Committee of Son Duong district and Yen Lang parish (Thai Nguyen) to join hands to build new houses and repair houses for the disadvantaged in Son Duong district.

In particular, each house repaired or built for a household does not cost a penny in labor costs, because the Association coordinates with Yen Lang Parish (Thai Nguyen) to support construction labor. Mr. Do Cong Vien, Priest Peter of Yen Lang Parish said: “To support poor, near-poor, and extremely difficult households, sick and ill, who are unable to repair or build new houses in the district, Yen Lang Parish has worked with political and social organizations of each commune and town to grasp the situation and then design and build houses for households in need of building houses, according to the 3 hard standards of “hard foundation, hard wall, hard roof”. I personally coordinated with each group of construction workers and Catholics to propagate and mobilize the movement to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses in Son Duong district. For the construction groups, I encouraged them to support in the form of the lowest labor cost. When everyone understood, all Catholics joined hands to help, those with money supported with money, those without money supported with construction days. Each completed house created more spread and love in the Catholic community”.

Thanks to choosing the right target and building houses on time, the activities of the Charity Association of Compassionate Arms have increasingly spread, gaining the trust and financial support of many philanthropists everywhere. From 2023 to now, the Association has called for support to build and repair nearly 40 houses for poor households, near-poor households, sick people, and people unable to work in Son Duong district, each newly built house is worth from 150 to 200 million VND.

With heart and responsibility, each member of the Charity Association of Compassionate Arms is joining hands with the Party Committee, government and local authorities in Son Duong district to build solid and spacious houses. This is a source of spiritual encouragement, with profound humanitarian meaning, because each completed house is a heart of compassion that is helping poor households have more faith and motivation to rise up in life.

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/nhung-ngoi-nha-0-dong-tien-cong-210269.html