Colonia residents get new homes - El Paso Times

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The Quezada family moved into their new home only four days ago with the help of the Colonia Self Help Center Program of the Texas Department of Housing and County Affairs. They are from left, Esteban, 11, Fidel, 13, Jessica, 17, Jocelyn, 15 and their parents Fidel and Esther.

Five years ago, Fidel Quezada bought a 1977 three-bedroom mobile home for $4,500 to house his family of six.

A farmhand who worked at a dairy in Anthony, N.M., Quezada had just bought the parched piece of land in the county's Agua Dulce colonia where the mobile home would sit.

Months later, Quezada had a heart attack. Doctors ordered him not to work at such a physically demanding job.

"My dreams of building a home on the property were dashed," Quezada said, explaining that he had to take a job as a security guard for half the pay.

Today, Quezada's dream will be realized. He and his family are the proud owners of a 1,100-square-foot three-bedroom house they call home.

The Quezadas are one of three families who recently received new homes from a Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs grant. A ribbon-cutting and housewarming party for the families will be held this evening.

Six more families are in line to receive new homes under the grant supervised by the county's Colonia Self Help Center Program. The program was established by the Texas Legislature in 1995 in five counties, including El Paso, that have economically distressed areas known as colonias. The centers provide help to low-income families through a variety of outreach and education programs, including housing needs.

The county oversees the request for proposals and contracts associated with the grant, said Rosemary Neill, the county's director of Family and Community Services. The company

Basic IDIQ was awarded the county's contract to build the homes. The total bid was for nearly $660,000 for the nine homes.

"There's certainly a lot of poverty and a lot of issues related to poverty in the colonias, substandard housing being just one," Neill said. "We looked at infrastructure projects that could create value and improve people's statuses, and homeownership was right up there."

Neill said this is the first time the grant will be used to build new homes rather than fix up old ones. Previously, the county worked to rehabilitate deteriorating homes under the sweat-equity concept where families themselves helped make home improvements with financial help for equipment and materials.

"The homes we looked at were not feasible for rehabilitation," Neill said. "They're pretty much all mobile homes in various shades of dilapidation."

The selected families had to be financially stable and own the land where the homes are to be built. They will be required to purchase home insurance, pay property taxes and maintain their homes without major changes for at least five years. They had to deed their mobile home to the county, which will likely destroy them, Neill said.

"What benefits one family really benefits the whole community," Precinct 3 Commissioner Tania Chozet said. "It has a ripple effect."

"Very often these families just need opportunities," Chozet said. "They have the will and the drive to succeed, and all they need is a chance."

The county's five main colonias -- Agua Dulce, Lakeway Estates, El Paso Hills, Horizon and Horizon View Estates -- have more than 10,000 residents and nearly 1,200 housing units, Neill said. The median family income in the colonias is $21,250 for a family of four, she said.

"It's absolutely beautiful, and it's ours," Quezada's wife, Esther, said. "We couldn't be happier."

"Our trailer had no heater, no air conditioner -- and it was falling apart," said Esther Quezada, who has four children and cares for a niece. "Now we are so motivated even the kids are up early cleaning house."

At the end, Fidel Quezada said he believes his health scare was a stroke of luck.

"We had to put in a lot of work to get here," Quezada said. "And now we have to keep working hard to keep moving forward."

Cindy Ramirez may be reached at cramirez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6151.

Source: http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_21107111/colonia-residents-get-new-homes?source=rss

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