A Federal Way family, originally from Moldova, now has a home just in time for the holiday season thanks to Habitat for Humanity and Bank of America.

Vitalie Pascaneau, his wife Inna, their 14-year-old son Gheorghe and 3-year-old daughter Laura received the keys to their newly renovated house on Dec. 13 during a house dedication ceremony.

“I’m just so much thankful for all of these people who helped me from Habitat,” Inna Pascaneau said in an interview. “We worked 500 hours with these people. I know this is like my family because all of them, everyone from Habitat, is so nice, so friendly.”

The Pascaneau family moved to the United States nearly seven years ago from Moldova, a small country tucked into Ukraine.

In Moldova, Inna Pascaneau was a teacher, Vitalie Pascaneau had a degree in construction work and they lived near their family.

But the couple wanted more for their son — one of the key reasons they moved to America from one of the poorest countries in Europe.

Now, Vitalie Pascaneau works in produce and his wife works part-time in retail while their son attends high school.

For a while, the family struggled to find an apartment with more than one bedroom that was within their budget. Before the house dedication, the four of them shared two bedrooms on a busy street without a yard for Laura to play in. The apartment often smelled of cigarette smoke, as the neighbors smoked indoors, Habitat officials said.

Inna Pascaneau said she heard about Habitat for Humanity through a coworker who was also fortunate to be picked to put in the work and hours Habitat for Humanity applicants are expected to undergo.

“I’m so happy because it’s a real together[ness] to do this house, and now I know I [can] do my physical work on my house,” she said. “I’m working for my house.”

Lisa Samuelson with Habitat for Humanity said that Vitalie and Inna Pascaneau are “incredibly thoughtful, caring and compassionate.”

“During the construction of the house, anytime one of the onsite staff members or AmeriCorps volunteers had a birthday, they presented them with chocolates and balloons,” Samuelson said. “At the dedication, they presented Habitat with a house-shaped gift box and in it was a check for $100 to pay it forward! How cool is that?”

Bank of America donated the land that made construction and dedication of this house possible.

Anthony DiBlasi, the Bank of America’s Washington state president and several representatives were at the dedication to congratulate the family.

The three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom house on Military Road has a large yard and a small shed that could potentially become a play shed for Laura.

For more information on Habitat for Humanity in South-King County, visit www.habitatskc.org.