Four Homeowner Families Honored in Home Dedication Ceremony
Los Angeles, CA – May 24, 2019: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) celebrated the completion of its first-ever Home Builders Blitz Friday, May 10th with ribbon-cutting dedication ceremonies at four new houses in the Willowbrook neighborhood of Los Angeles. Each of the four Habitat homes was adopted by a different construction company, Clark Construction, The Gilbane Building Company, Turner Construction, and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company— who donated time, supplies and money to build the homes from the ground up in just two weeks.
Habitat for Humanity’s Home Builders Blitz is a national program that brings together professional builders for one shared purpose – to build safe and affordable housing for families in need of a safe place to call home. Habitat LA’s Home Builders Blitz is a result of a first-time collaboration between the County of Los Angeles, Habitat LA and four renowned construction firms, who mobilized local contractors and suppliers to build affordable homes for four hard working families in record time. Additionally, more than 80 subcontractors donated their time and talents.
The County of Los Angeles donated the land as part of a multi-year and multi-project partnership with Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission. The foundations for each of the homes were also donated by Bomel, Largo Concrete, and Trademark.
The Home Builders Blitz is a great example of community collaboration and part of Habitat’s national advocacy campaign advocating for 10 million individuals to have access to affordable homes. Home Builders Blitz engaged local partners, volunteers and community members to help the families achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and their families. Each day, more than 100 skilled tradespeople worked tirelessly from sun up to sun down in partnership (and a bit of competitive spirit); donating the necessary building materials, supplies, and hours of labor for the event.
“What a blessing this is,” said Erin Rank, Habitat LA President and CEO. “In Habitat LA’s traditional model, this project could have taken us up to 12 months to complete. Thanks to our Builder partners, the Alvanez family, the Magdaleno Family, the Marks Family, and the Perez-Herrera Family will be able to move into their homes much faster.”
Meet the 2019 Home Builders Blitz Homeowners
- The Alvanez Family: Maria and her son, Luis have been sharing a cramped one- bedroom residence in Hollywood that doesn’t afford either of them much privacy. Fulfilling their dream of homeownership will allow both to have a private space they can call their own.
- The Magdaleno Family: For the last 11 years, Elizabeth and her two sons, Francisco and Nicholas, have lived in a small one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles. As an Eligibility Worker for the County of Los Angeles, and as a volunteer at her church, Elizabeth has experienced the joy of helping other families and giving back to her community. Now she has the opportunity to see her community give back to her.
- The Marks Family: Over the last six years, Doris and Nidra have seen the rent for their apartment consistently increase, and ever since Isaiah came into their lives as a foster child two years ago, their apartment has become too small for them. Doris is grateful for the opportunity to have a vested interest in the community and its redevelopment.
- The Perez-Herrera Family: For Jose and Wendy, the dream of homeownership means privacy, joy, serenity, stability, and most of all, security for them and their daughters Samantha, 14, and Vanessa, 16. Owning a house also means saving money to invest in their future.
For these families, the journey to homeownership included trainings and classes through Habitat LA’s Family Investment Program, as well as completing up to 500 hours of sweat equity, working alongside construction staff to build their future Habitat home and the homes of other Habitat homebuyers. Each qualified Habitat LA partner family is a first-time homebuyer with good credit and a demonstrated need for affordable housing. In addition to the affordable monthly mortgage payments, partner homeowners are responsible for the down payment, ultimately providing them with the foundation for strength and stability for their future.
These newly constructed homes are two-stories with two three-bedroom homes and two four-bedroom homes. All homes have two bathrooms and come equipped with several environmentally-friendly features including drought tolerant landscaping, electric car charging ports, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, insulation made from recycled content, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and solar ready systems.
View photos from this event here.
About Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) brings people together to build homes, communities and hope. As the top nonprofit homebuilder in the greater Los Angeles area with five consecutive Charity Navigator 4-Star ratings, Habitat LA has partnered with volunteers, donors and Habitat homeowners to build, renovate and repair more than 1,300 homes locally and worldwide since 1990. The lives of thousands of individuals have been transformed as a result of having a decent and affordable place to call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes and pay an affordable mortgage. By supporting Habitat LA through volunteerism, donations and supporting affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the stability and self-reliance they need to build a better future. To learn more, visit www.habitatla.org.
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Media Contacts:
Genetric Brown
Habitat LA
O: 424-246-3187
C: 310-808-5902
gbrown@habitatla.org
Angela Moore
Starfish P.R.
C: 310-429-8868
angela@starfish-pr.com