Homeownership Dreams Come True for Four Families

Moments before singing “The Impossible Dream” at the groundbreaking Saturday of the first home of her own in more than 20 years, Patty Puglise said her dreams are impossible no more.

Puglise, who was abandoned by her husband 12 years ago, is raising five children--two of her own and three by a sister who died last year. Together, they live in a cramped two-bedroom apartment in La Habra.

But by the end of this year, Puglise hopes their living condition will change. Along with three other families, Puglise was selected to occupy a four-unit condominium that Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and the Brea Redevelopment Agency is planning to build at the corner of Flower and Ash streets.

About 300 city officials, community and church leaders and volunteers participated in a two-mile walk Saturday from the Civic Center to the project site for the groundbreaking ceremonies.

“It’s a miracle, really,” said Puglise, 45, who works at an Anaheim ceramic tile company. “I never thought of being able to own a house. I was doing just enough to survive.”

She said her husband left her when her son, Joseph, now 12, was a year old. Her other child, Tiffany, is 14. To survive, she said she worked as a waitress or at odds jobs and has moved from one apartment to another since moving to California from Oregon more than 20 years ago.

When they move into their new home, possibly by December, she plans to go back to school, she said. . Puglise has studied at Oregon State University and at Cal State Northridge and needs just a few units to graduate with a major in English.

Officials hope the project will be finished before the end of the year. Next month, they expect to raise the frame of the four-unit, two-story condominium.

The project will include two three-bedroom units and two four-bedroom units. Each will cost $55,000 and will have a 20-year, no-interest mortgage paid by the homeowner to a Habitat for Humanity fund that is used to finance other homes.

To qualify, families must earn no more than $26,500 a year.

In addition to the down payment, families will perform 600 hours of “sweat equity,” which means they will help build their homes.

In addition to Puglise, other families selected out of about 200 applicants were Lilia and John Gutierrez, who have three children; Roman and Maria Macias, with seven children; and Francisco and Maria Cruz, who have four children, said Dean Allison, president of Habitat for Humanity Orange County.

“This is a dream come true,” said Lilia Gutierrez.

“It’s something special. I wanted a house that you do a lot of things (in) that you couldn’t do in an apartment,” said her 13-year-old daughter, Frances.

“At last, we will have our own home,” said Maria Macias.

“It’s the first time we have something of our own,” said Maria Cruz of Placentia.

Allison said families were chosen based on income, housing needs, willingness to become partners and ability to repay the loan. Applicants were screened by a panel of community volunteers; 10 were selected as finalists and then interviewed in their homes by Habitat for Humanity volunteers.

“It’s a pity that for every available unit, there are 10 applicants,” Allison said.

Habitat for Humanity is an international ecumenical housing ministry founded in 1976. It has sponsored housing projects around the world, in 28 developing countries, some of which former President Jimmy Carter has helped build with hammer and saw. The four-unit condominium is the first Habitat project in Brea.