| Communities in Action
RIO RICO, AZ
Seven New Owners Get Keys to their Area Homes
By Denise Holley | PNogales International
Febuary 19, 2010
Seven families began building seven homes in Rio Rico last fall, working together like pioneers raising a barn for their neighbors. When the organization Chicanos Por La Causa Inc. (CPLC) handed the keys to the new owners on Feb. 12, officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed up to celebrate with the families.
"Most of them don’t know anything about construction," said Alejandro Martinez, housing director for CPLC. But they work weekends with a construction supervisor and do 65 percent of the labor themselves, he said. Licensed contractors do the plumbing and electrical work.
"These are million-dollar views,” said Alan Stephens, state director of the USDA Rural Development program, as he surveyed the mountains from a new home on Shea Court off Circulo Ballena. "You’re going to raise your children here. This is your day for celebration."
CPLC held its “turnkey” ceremony at the new home of Manuel Guzman and Rebeca Chicas, with all seven families, USDA and other representatives, and construction people involved with the project.
The family will leave an apartment in Nogales for the three-bedroom home, said Guzman, who works nights at Wal-Mart. His children, ages 11 and 2, will have their own rooms. Once they move in, Guzman will begin landscaping the yard, he said.
Another couple, Jesus and Martha Ramos, will move out of the Preston Mobile Home Park in Nogales after 15 years to a home on Adorn Court, they said.
"It’s a source of pride to have your own home," said Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manuel Ruiz.
"CPLC believes in moving people to the forefront," said Josie Medina, an aide to Cong. Raul Grijalva.
Since 1993, CPLC has built 265 homes in Rio Rico and Nogales, said Gabriela Gorman, area specialist with USDA Rural Development. “This is the most difficult program we do – getting people into their own homes,” she said.
Now that these families have their homes, Group Coordinator Monica Gallego is looking for eight families to build the next round of homes.
To qualify, a family must have a stable job, good credit and a low income, Gallego said. They don’t have to live in Santa Cruz County, but must be legal residents in the United States and able to work weekends on the houses.
"We raffle the lots," she said, but families can choose either a three- or four-bedroom model.
Gorman makes the USDA loan and payments affordable, she said. Families pay a fixed interest rate of 4.875 percent on a 33-year mortgage and get a subsidy on their payments based on income and family size.
CPLC is a statewide community development corporation committed to building stronger, healthier communities, according to its Web site www.cplc.org. Mexican-American students and community members founded the organization in the early 1970s to deal with problems in the barrios of South Central Phoenix. Since then, CPLC expanded its services to provide assistance to disadvantaged people regardless of ethnic origin.
Copyright © 2010 Nogales International.
Manuel Guzman, Rebeca Chicas and their two children were ready to move into their new home on Shea Court in Rio Rico on Feb. 12, when Chicanos Por La Causa held a turnkey ceremony for them and six other families.