It was an emotional moment for the St. David's grandmother who lost her house in a devastating fire a week ago as she walked through her new home for the first time yesterday afternoon.

Standing in the centre of the family room, a tearful Thelma Foggo said words could not explain how happy she was to have a new house and so soon after the other was destroyed.

“God is good,” she simply said and smiled.

Her new home, at 22 Lighthouse Hill, lies in the shadow of the famous lighthouse and consists of three large bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and family room. But for now it's empty. The Foggo family have no furniture yet, but despite this they hope to be able to move in within two weeks.

“It all depends on how long it takes us to get some furniture together,” their granddaughter, Kaywonda Landy said.

With her 18-month-old son Shia on her hip, she gave The Royal Gazette the grand tour of their new home and smiled broadly when a comment was made as to the size of the rooms.

“My brothers will be sleeping in there and Shia and I will have this room,” she said stopping to point to the room with plush blue carpets.

The smell of new paint had yet to fade.

“It's lovely isn't it? And the rooms are so big, but it's been tough up to now,” she said. “I was living with my son's father and his family, so I was alright, but my grandparents and my brothers have been living with my aunt and her family and, at one stage, they were 11 people in that small house.”

The family of six found themselves displaced when their house in St. David's burned down on January 3.

The elderly Chelsey and Thelma Foggo had lived in the house for almost 30 years, but lost everything within an hour. They were also not insured.

Thanks to donations from members of the public, the family is slowly starting to pick up the pieces of their lives.

A few days after the fire, the Department of Housing said it would make sure the Foggo family was re-housed within a week and yesterday Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent was there to keep his word.

“I had sleepless nights thinking how I could possibly help this family,” Mr. DeVent said.

He said he had heard about the families loss almost immediately, but could not find a property straight away.

“Luckily this one became available late last week and we're just happy to be able to help this family in their time of need,” he said.

He added that a little bit of work still needed to be done, but that he was happy that it all turned out alright in the end.

His sentiment was repeated by the Premier who handed over the keys to Mr. Foggo and took a quick tour of the house before leaving.

Besides their granddaughter and her 18-month-old son, the Foggo couple will also be sharing their new home with their grandsons Khyjuan Landy, 29 and Dejuan Landy, 22.

An elderly Irish couple, who wished to remain anonymous, stopped by the house and handed the family some cash before riding off on their rental scooter.

“We were on holiday on the Island and heard you needed some help,” the woman said.

“This is what it's been like,” daughter Ann Williams, said through teary eyes.

Adding that people had come to her house from all over the Island with donations for the family.

“If you can help with donations of furniture or curtains, or anything to help us turn their house into a home, please call me,” she said. Mrs. Williams can be contacted at 297-2575.