More Family Success Stories Contact: Homeowner Relations (650) 568-7322 housinginterest @peninsulahabitat.org Home Family Success Stories The Dimitrov Family Family Works with Peninsula Habitat to Build New Home and Life in Brisbane They lived under a communist regime in a small country in southeastern Europe. When the regime collapsed the country experienced years of economic difficulty and corruption. Government officials robbed the country of much needed money and resources forcing many citizens to leave the country, and creating an ever-widening gap between the rich and poor. With the stability of their children's futures at risk, they too finally decided to leave their family, friends and home country behind. Originally from Bulgaria, Eleonora and Panayot Dimitrov applied for green cards four years ago so they could move their family to the United States. There is a quota on the number of Bulgarian citizens who can emigrate to the U.S. during a year, so applicants' names are entered into a lottery. "We always wanted to live outside of Bulgaria," Eleonora said. "We were looking for a better, more secure place to raise our children and decided to move to America. It's the land of dreams - everything is possible here." After filing out the appropriate paperwork and participating in an interview with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Dimitrovs were selected from the lottery and awarded their green cards. With the only person they knew in the U.S. living in Brisbane, they relocated there. "Our friend helped us find an apartment," she said. "It was really nice to have a place ready when we arrived in Brisbane, but it was scary too. We didn't have jobs, we didn't speak English and we didn't know if we could afford to live here." more >