Habitat for Humanity helps woman realize dream
Years of scrimping and saving weren’t enough: “When they called me it just came up like, I can actually do this. I can actually own a place.”
FREMONT >> Yesenia Ramirez has always dreamed of owning a home in the Bay Area; a place with enough space for her and her husband to raise their two young kids.
But she had nearly given up on that dream. Years of living in a cramped detached studio rented from her parents in San Jose and saving money still wasn’t enough to crack the housing market’s skyrocketing prices.
Her family was considering moving to the Central Valley, away from the place she was born and raised, and her parents.
“It’s hard, because I’ve always wanted my kids to grow up with their grandparents. … I wanted
to stay close,” Ramirez said. “I want them to have a personal connection.”
But after being told by real estate agents and banks that she would not be able to afford anything in the region, the local branch of Habitat for Humanity called and told her she had been selected as one of 30 families eligible to buy an affordably priced condominium at a new development in Fremont.
It was the culmination for Ramirez of a years-long process of applying for an affordable home with the local branch of Habitat, and working with the nonprofit to provide information about her family and factors that affect her eligibility, including her income
level and housing need.
“I started crying and shaking,” Ramirez said.
“I kind of saw that dream fading away. And when they called me it just came up like, I can actually do this. I can actually own a place, it’s not just in my dreams,” she said.
Now, Ramirez is looking forward to having a home to call her own by the end of this year at Central Commons — a 30-unit condominium complex on Central Avenue in Fremont being developed by Habitat’s East Bay Silicon Valley branch.
About 11 of the units, including the one the Ramirez family will purchase, will be complete by late fall. The remaining condos will be built by fall of 2019, according to the nonprofit agency.
Ramirez keeps close track of the development by being on the construction site
a couple of days each week, working full days, as Habitat requires each family to put in 500 hours of work on their future home site.
Sitting on a bench just steps away from the building that houses her future condominium, Ramirez said last week helping to build the project has been an incredible experience.
“I love coming here. I really enjoy it, I always learn something new,” she said. Ramirez, who had no experience in construction, initially thought the site directors would only let her do light work, such as cleaning and moving materials around. But on her first day volunteering, along with her husband, she was up on the top of her future building, laying roofing.
“I’m a little scared of heights, but going up there and putting the shingles on our roof … it was amazing,”
she said.
Janice Jensen, the president and CEO of the local Habitat arm, said helping to build your own home is a “very life-altering thing to do,” and creates a deep sense of pride and investment for the new residents.
“It is so much more than just putting in an hour, or 500 hours; it really connects people to each other,” Jensen said, noting that Habitat relies on volunteer work to build much of its housing.
The Women’s Leadership Council of the local Habitat branch hosted a build day last Friday, where roughly 100 local women leaders, including Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, worked on the Central Commons project.
“When you have church members, social community members, elected leaders out there helping
to build your home, you really do sink roots into that community very fast,” Jensen said of residents like Ramirez.
Ramirez said her 5-yearold daughter has already started making suggestions about interior design. “‘I want my wall pink, I want my ceiling this color,’” Ramirez said.
Jensen acknowledged that 30 homes is not an “earth-shattering” figure and is only a piece of the puzzle to solve the housing and affordability crisis in the region.
“But we find that housing stability begets strength of a family and self-reliance,” Jensen said.
She said there’s a generational impact on families as parents, when they know they have an affordable mortgage to plan around, can invest in educating and better supporting their kids, helping to break a cycle of poverty.
“So if you’re looking at it from a total numbers game, we’re a small player. If you’re looking at it from an impact game, then we are a big impact provider,” Jensen said.
Ramirez said she feels very lucky, and she’s already envisioning her family’s life in the new home. “I see pictures of my kids running around, and pictures of me cooking,” she said.
“I never thought I would be able to own a home in the area, and Habitat has really brightened our futures,” she said. “And Fremont is a great city, so I’m excited to raise my kids here.”