A Marine veteran is celebrating his 49th birthday on Sunday with a newly gifted home in Donna.

"It's been a long journey, been a couple of years of downhill… but finally it's all fallen into place," new homeowner John Michael Ybarra said.

Ybarra was living in poor conditions in his former home.

"My house was falling apart, it was an old house," Ybarra recalled.

Ybarra works as a K9 handler. His boss, Daniel Apache Villarreal, saw the conditions he lived in.

Villarreal, a member of the Combat Veteran Motorcycle Association Chapter 2315, immediately told his chapter about Ybarra's living conditions.

The members began donating appliances to Ybarra's home. From that point on, Villarreal said, members of the chapter saw the condition of the home.

"His home has mold. He had cracks in his foundation and walls, he had pests and animals in his room that were using as a restroom," CVMA member Michael "Lights Out" Price said. "He had no refrigerator, no oven and no dryer. His air conditioning was out."

Villarreal addressed Ybarra's situation at a CVMA state meeting in El Paso. Since that meeting two years ago, the non-profit worked on raising funds to buy Ybarra a new home.

The nearly 60 members of CVMA Chapter 2315 raised over $21,000, and pre-paid six months of Ybarra's rent.

Ybarra's new home sits in a trailer lot.

"They paved the way, they opened up a new trail for me to succeed," Ybarra said. "Seek help. Believe it or not, there's opportunities out there."

The group hopes to continue helping more veterans in the community.

"What's better than doing it once, doing it twice, doing it three times," association member Carlos 'Minion Bob' Ayala said. "We want to be able to run our chapter and be able to help more of our veterans in our community."

Veterans seeking help are urged to reach out to the Combat Veteran Motorcycle Association Chapter 2315 on their website.

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