Nonprofit Group Helps Build Dreams

Looking up at the grayish Piru sky, Jose Estrada wrapped his blistered hands around a section of wood framing Saturday and lifted it onto a set of bolts fastened to the cement foundation.

Estrada’s green work shirt, with his name stitched on the left pocket, dripped with sweat. His thick salt-and-pepper mustache sagged under the weight of more perspiration.

The stocky, 43-year-old truck driver looked bone tired after spending all day helping 40 fellow Habitat for Humanity volunteers raise the framing for what will soon be the nonprofit group’s 24th home in Ventura County.

It was hard work, Estrada admitted, but he didn’t mind. Soon, the thick, splintered beam in his hands will support the back wall of a master bedroom he will share with his wife, Edelmira.

During the next six months, the Estradas and their two sons--Mario, 16, and Danny, 12--will move from their cramped apartment nestled among rows of Piru citrus trees into the tidy 1,500-square-foot home.

“I’m just happy we were able to get in,� Jose Estrada said in Spanish as his son, Danny, translated. “Now I hope I will have the money to fix the place up.�

Habitat for Humanity organizers say they will do whatever it takes to see that Estrada succeeds.

Group Looks to Expand in Ventura County

The weekend construction project was the latest in the organization’s nearly two-decade local effort to bring affordable housing to county residents who are least likely to own homes.

With the financial help of churches, businesses and the county, the Georgia-based organization’s Ventura County office has so far built 23 homes in Camarillo, Oak View, Piru and Thousand Oaks. The group is also planning to construct homes in Oxnard, Santa Paula and Simi Valley.

“People who have donated their money to us can come see what their money is paying for,� said Martin Kircher, executive director of the organization’s Oxnard branch.

The Estrada home, which is just off California 126 in Piru, is the latest to be built on a 4.5-acre lot formerly home to a grove of dying citrus trees. County officials bought the land for about $300,000 and donated it to Habitat for Humanity, Kircher said.

Three years later, the rotting trees have been replaced by nearly a dozen three- to five-bedroom homes, each with immaculately groomed lawns. Several more houses will be built on the same block during the next year, Kircher said.

Like other families before them, the Estradas had to meet a series of requirements before becoming eligible for the affordable property in this notoriously expensive and land-hungry county.

Rigorous Series of Conditions

The smallest house offered by Habitat for Humanity starts at $63,000, officials said.

For starters, Estrada, a truck driver who makes daily mulch deliveries to citrus farms from Piru to Ojai, had to divulge his family’s financial history.

Applicants cannot have a household income above $34,000, and must show organization officials that they currently live in substandard housing.

Lengthy financial investigations and personal interviews are also performed. And the charity only goes so far, officials said. Applicants must prove they will be able to meet a 20-year mortgage commitment.

Residents Build Their Own Homes

Habitat for Humanity homeowners must also volunteer a minimum of 500 hours to help construct their home.

“The requirements for buying a home with us are much tougher than any home loan program,� said Elizabeth Armstrong, an executive at Kinko’s Copies in Ventura who supervises the selection of qualified families. “But these are wonderful families who just want decent housing.�

For their trouble, families get an almost unbeatable deal: A 20-year, interest-free mortgage with monthly payments of $450. A $750 down payment is required to move in, Armstrong said.

Retired electrical engineer Elden Sandy, the group’s volunteer construction coordinator, said that when he left his job in 1997, he wanted to do more with his free time than play golf or travel. He wanted to make a difference.

“I always wanted to be a philanthropist but financially it didn’t work out that way,� the 60-year-old Camarillo resident said as he took a break from pounding nails. “When you give the family the keys to their new home, you get a really special feeling.�