In June 2017, Eulalia and Roberto Acosta broke new ground for their family: they started construction on their own home in Traver, California. The Acostas had always hoped to own a home, but they never thought they could build it with their own hands.
Self-Help Enterprises is a one-stop homeownership center for individuals and families looking to start their housing search. Photo courtesy of Self-Help Enterprises.
Their home is part of an initiative to build 11 single-family, energy-efficient homes using funding from the USDA Rural Development mutual self-help housing program. Organized by Self-Help Enterprises and aimed at lower-income families, the homeowners provide more than 70 percent of the construction labor for the homes, contributing a minimum of 40 hours a week toward building all of the homes in the community. The homes feature three or four bedrooms, two baths, covered patios, and two-car garages. The families are projected to move into their new homes in March 2018.
Self-Help Enterprises partnered with the county to purchase and develop the subdivision in an effort to improve community infrastructure. The affordable housing project is complemented by a new health clinic facility built by Family HealthCare Network, another partner of Self-Help Enterprises, on a nearby site.
In addition to the housing, Self-Help Enterprises provides homeownership education, financial counseling, and home maintenance training during the program. Since 1965, when Self-Help Enterprises pioneered the mutual self-help housing program, the organization has helped more than 6,200 families in the San Joaquin Valley build their own homes.
Through community development investing with Calvert Impact Capital, Praxis Mutual Funds® helps support families like the Acostas by funding organizations like Self-Help Enterprises that provide a pathway to homeownership and education. As an impact-investing institution, Calvert Impact Capital helps people and communities around the world through community development financing.
This story is originally from the Calvert Impact Capital’s community development investing map, where you can find more stories like this.