“Owning a home means security, privacy, responsibility, self-respect, pride, self-worth, and a little bit of heaven” – Maria Madrigal.
We recently celebrated the completion of six new, affordable homes in the City of Bellflower. During a home dedication ceremony on Thursday, November 30, 2017, the Afemata, Gutierrez, Jimenez, Madrigal, Vargas, and Yates families received the keys to their new Habitat LA homes. Also in attendance were Habitat LA staff, partners, and sponsors who helped bring this new community to life.
For these families, the journey to homeownership included education workshops through Habitat LA’s Family Investment Program, as well as completing up to 500 hours of sweat equity building these homes. Each family will purchase their home with an affordable mortgage. This new Bellflower community includes six, two-story townhomes each with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. These homes incorporate several green features including drought-tolerant landscaping, energy-efficient heating systems, insulation made from recycled content, low-flow plumbing fixtures and solar-ready systems.
“Our partner families have worked hard to achieve their dream of homeownership and will be moving into affordable and sustainable homes,” said Erin Rank, President & CEO, Habitat LA. “We are proud to partner with these families and grateful to the sponsors and volunteers who helped make their dreams a reality. It’s especially thrilling to be welcoming them home during the holiday season!”
This project would not have been possible without the support of the City of Bellflower, Thrivent Financial, The Home Depot, Partnership Housing and the hundreds of volunteers who helped build the homes. The City of Bellflower proudly partnered with Partnership Housing and Habitat LA through the construction process and generously provided a construction grant and loan to facilitate this project.
“My City Council colleagues and I were here with the Habitat LA staff partners, sponsors and partner homeowners for the groundbreaking of this project, and we are very excited to be a part of the Home Dedication Ceremony. We proudly support the work that Habitat for Humanity does in our community and are very excited for the new Bellflower Homeowners,” said Bellflower Mayor, Ron Schnablegger. “Projects like this help families in Los Angeles County and Bellflower is honored to provide homes to our hardworking residents.”
“We continue to be blessed with the partnership of these two wonderful companies,” says Geoff Delahanty, Thrivent Financial wealth advisor and Habitat LA board member. “Being able to provide financial guidance to clients and see their dreams of living generous lives is a blessing. Especially when the generosity is towards Habitat for Humanity in the form of time, talent and treasures.”
This project is part of Habitat LA’s Building a Greater Los Angeles campaign with a goal to invest $100 million by 2020 into revitalizing neighborhoods and increasing access to affordable homeownership opportunities. This investment will also help strengthen the local economy, creating healthier and more affordable homes for low-income families and individuals.