Sunshine broke through the heavy week of rain just as four families, once living on the streets, took their first steps into a place they can finally call home.
Among those families is 57-year-old Ma. Teresita Lhey Gocalin, a solo parent, who held back tears as she clutched the key to their new house. She and her children had been without shelter for a year, sleeping on the streets until they were taken in by Asilo de San Vicente de Paul. “I’m happy, because I’ve wished for this for so long,” she said.
Her dream brought her to Onward Home, a housing initiative officially launched on July 27, 2025 by Vincentian Foundation and DePaul International. Located in the Vincentian Bamboo Housing community in Bagong Silangan, Quezon City, the program offers more than just walls and roofs; it provides families like Teresita’s with dignity, psychosocial care, and a real chance to rebuild.
For Fr. Geowen Porcincula, CM, executive director of the Vincentian Missionaries Social Development Foundation, this is not simply a housing solution but a lifeline in an increasingly unstable climate. “Extreme weather events make life precarious, but even more so for those living in poorly constructed dwellings,” he said.
In 2024 alone, six storm systems struck the country in under a month, destroying over 19,000 homes. These patterns are becoming more frequent due to climate change, placing already vulnerable families at even greater risk.
“Once on the street,” Fr. Geowen added, “they are exposed to multiple risks, including violence and exploitation. Children are particularly susceptible to abuse.”
Onward Home addresses these layers of vulnerability with a wraparound approach: each household receives mental health and emotional assessments, career training, and social work support. Homes were even retrofitted using Cement-Bamboo Frame Technology, a disaster-resilient, eco-friendly construction method developed by Base Bahay Foundation.
“Every single child deserves a loving and secure home, and no one should be forced to sleep on the street,” said Matthew Carter, OBE, Group CEO of Depaul International. “That’s why we are launching this new program, so that more children in Metro Manila will have a safe place to grow up and call home.”
Back at her doorstep, Teresita stood quietly beside her new house. Her voice was soft, but her eyes shone, “We used to sleep on the cold pavement. Now, we’ll sleep in a home filled with hope.”
