Community Gathers for Housewarming

More than 10 years after immigrating to Utah, Thupten Kunga finally has a place to call home for himself and his family. Members of the U community and surrounding areas came together on Saturday for a housewarming for the recently completed Kunga House, where the nine-member Tibetan family now resides. "We are just so happy and grateful right now," said Thupten Kunga with a smile on his face.

Bruce Quint presents Phurba Dolma with a book containing pictures of the construction of her new house on behalf of volunteers who made it possible.

U Graduate School of Architecture students spent months designing and building the Kunga house, which is also the first straw-bale house in Salt Lake City.

"In architecture classes, we always talk about helping people, but this time around, we weren't just talking about it, we were actually doing it," said Cecilia Uriburu, an architecture graduate student. "We wanted to give everything we had to offer and we wanted to build a house that would fit their family's lifestyle."

Under the guidance of assistant visiting professor of architecture Hank Louis and licensed contractor Dennis Caulfield, the 2,000-square-foot, five-bedroom structure was built to be wheelchair accessible and includes a raised gardening area for the convenience of Thupten's wife, Phurbu.

After a car accident that rendered Phurbu paraplegic in 2002, she could no longer work outside of the home. But with the help of Intermountain Health Care, LDS Hospital and Parsons Behle & Latimer law firm, the family was able to pay off all of their medical expenses.

"Having seen the family in so much distress and visiting the tiny apartment they were living in, where Thupten had to carry his wife from room to room, I think all of us were more motivated to build that house," Uriburu said.

Eventually, the Community Development Corporation, Salt Lake City Corporation and the U also worked together to find and donate the time and money to what is now a house for the Kunga family.

U architecture graduate student Rui Morals, whose original drawing was chosen for the design of the house, says he is just glad to see the family happy in their new home.

"I care more that the family is satisfied with what we built than the fact that my design was chosen," said Morals, who will be graduating this year. "I've always known that I eventually want to work on low-income housing projects, but this experience has really made that feeling stronger."

The family showed its gratitude to everyone by serving traditional Tibetan food and by presenting a traditional Tibetan white scarf to thank those who helped them through its hardships.

"When Mom had her accident, we thought owning a home would be hopeless. It's difficult to find the words to thank you for helping us," said the family in a written statement that was read to the crowd. "Living in this house means more freedom for Mom. Thank you for helping us build a dream."

Those involved in the process of helping the Kunga family establish a home in Salt Lake City said this was an invaluable learning process for them as well.

"We've all learned a lot of respect with the way their family handled adversity, moving to Utah and starting a new life and with Phurbu's accident," said Dan Hindert from the Parsons Behle & Latimer law firm.

With the completion of the Kunga house, Louis says his next step is to provide low-income housing for the Navajo nation in Bluff, Utah.

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