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Salomon Herbert, 33, of Orange works to install heating and air conditioning equipment at an Irvine home home construction site Tuesday.

///ADDITIONAL INFO: Real.Centerpiece.0608-p2 – 6/3/14 – PHOTO BY JOSHUA SUDOCK, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER – Salomon Herbert, 33, of Orange works in construction. During the economic downturn, employment in rough installation unit where Herbert worked fell from more than 120 people to fewer than 14, and he was forced to take a job as a laborer for a general construction firm that did roofing, demolition, redmodeling and excavation work. His pay fell from about $15 per hour to $10, and he and his brother were forced to short sell a condo they had purchased for a huge loss. He and his wife had just enough money to rent a room in a house. He sold his van and bought a four-cylinder Honda Civic to save on gas. He’s one of the lucky ones able to scrape by because a lot of his friends were forced to go back to Mexico,.

Now things are better, he’s back to working for Aliso Air and he and his wife and two daughters have their own apartment, instead of just a room. And he’s driving a Ford Ranger.

“God provides work for those who believe in him,” he said. “… This for me has been blessings from God.”

Picture made at a home construction site in Irvine Tuesday, June 3, 2014.