Families Thrill to ‘an American Dream’ Realized : Housing: A 126-unit Bell Gardens project dedicated Sunday aims at making them homeowners despite yearly incomes as low as $21,000.
Joel Santos’ new three-bedroom townhouse in Bell Gardens is, he says, “an American dream come true.”
It’s a spotless and cheery two-story home in a gated community--and the monthly payments are only $740, including taxes and insurance.
“It was a great opportunity and I took it,” said Santos, a film lighting technician, who moved with his wife and two children from a crowded rental they shared with relatives.
On Sunday, Santos stood in a crowd of new residents and their supporters at a dedication ceremony for the Nehemiah West Housing Corp.’s 126 townhouses and condominiums. With financial backing from Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches, government agencies and community groups, the project aims at making homeowners of families who earn as little as $21,000 a year.
The Nehemiah organization is named after the biblical prophet who rebuilt Jerusalem in the 5th Century B.C. Formed by the Southern California Organizing Committee and the United Neighborhood Organization, Nehemiah West wants to duplicate in Los Angeles County the success that sister organizations have had in reviving sections of East Coast cities.
“The principle is: You can own a home for the amount of money you pay for rent,” explained Larry Fondation, one of the organizers of the $13.7-million project, called Vinas la Campana.
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Bishop Frederick Borsch of the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese led a lively procession Sunday down the development’s central roadway and blessed the houses by sprinkling water toward the doorways.
“This is indeed what we call in our faith communities a real miracle,” said Mahony, describing how Nehemiah West overcame political and financial problems. The Catholic and Episcopal regional churches contributed a total of $3.5 million in no-interest loans to the project, near Gage and Garfield avenues.
Prices range from $99,000 for a two-bedroom condo to $143,000 for a four-bedroom townhouse, well below market rates. Monthly mortgage payments are about half what those prices normally bring because the land costs are deferred for 30 years under arrangements with the Century Freeway Housing Program and the Bell Gardens Redevelopment Agency. The 4.71-acre development helps to replace housing razed to make way for the Century Freeway.
Other private foundations, government agencies and banks provided further subsidies for what Nehemiah West hopes will be its first step toward building 1,000 affordable homes in Los Angeles County. Two Compton projects will be the next to open.
So far, 72 of the 126 Bell Gardens units have been sold or are in escrow, according to Loren Bloch, president of Community Dynamics Inc., the Santa Monica developer that works with Nehemiah West. There is no shortage of applicants for the others.
“It’s a pretty remarkable thing,” Bloch said. “Some of these people were living in modified garages, and now they are standing in front of their own homes.”
