A Pledge for Low-Income Housing : Cities: Foundation announces $35-million fund to help build or renovate homes for 2,300 families.
On a quiet side street in South Los Angeles on Tuesday, Victor and Hermila Archaga crossed the threshold of a home that they will finally be able to call their own.
With their three young children, the Archagas, a low-income family, now live in an apartment building nearby. Moving into their new home--a neat yellow bungalow on Colden Avenue--will fulfill their long-held dream of owning a property in which they can feel safer and more secure.
“We hope that this move will transform our lives by providing a more positive environment,” said Victor Archaga, a job counselor for a Watts organization. “Right now, my baby cannot go out and play. Here, my children can play safely in the backyard.”
The fully renovated house will become the Archagas’ in October, thanks in part to the efforts of the Enterprise Foundation. On Tuesday, the private group pledged $35 million over four years to build or renovate thousands of homes in Los Angeles for low-income families.
Bart Harvey, the chairman of the Maryland-based foundation, made the announcement in front of the Archagas’ future home. The renovated bungalow is the 100,000th housing unit that the group has helped to finance in cities across the U.S.
The nonprofit foundation has spent $150 million on projects in New York, Baltimore, Washington and other cities, Harvey said. But Tuesday’s announcement marks the first time it has undertaken a major initiative in Los Angeles. Its L.A. efforts will link home ownership, child care and grass-roots economic development.
The Enterprise Foundation “is making a major investment to stabilize and rehabilitate our neighborhoods,” said Garry Pinney, general manager of the Los Angeles Housing Department.
The foundation aims to help families like the Archagas, who will be able to buy the $135,000, three-bedroom house because the foundation arranged low-interest loans from Chase bank and the Los Angeles Housing Department. The foundation also provided the initial funds to New Economics for Women, a local nonprofit group, to purchase and renovate the house.
The Archagas will purchase the house from New Economics with a $4,000 down payment, a mortgage from Chase for about 60% of the purchase price, and a loan from the city for the rest. They will then have to repay the Chase loan at about $600 per month. The city’s loan won’t have to be repaid unless the Archagas sell the house.
Founded by James Rouse, an East Coast real estate developer, the foundation receives the bulk of its money from banks.
In Los Angeles, the foundation will buy single-family homes from the Federal Housing Administration and mortgage lenders, Harvey said. These houses will be renovated by local nonprofit agencies and sold to low-income families. The foundation expects to fund 2,300 single-family homes.
“Housing affordability is rapidly becoming an issue in Los Angeles County,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.
“With this program, you’re accomplishing two things. You’re rehabilitating older homes and you’re allowing low-income families to buy them,” he said.
In an innovative move, buyers will be selected with a preference for those who will run child care businesses from their homes. This is intended to establish more child care resources in poorer neighborhoods. The foundation expects to create 1,400 day care slots.
“Child care is critically important for people to be able to go to work, especially women who are single parents,” Harvey said .
Hermila Archaga is considering starting a child care business in her new home. But most important is the fact that the family will fulfill their dream of being homeowners.
“This is our first home,” said Victor Archaga. “This is the first time our dreams have started to come true.”
