Three Española families will soon have a place to call home thanks to local and regional volunteers.
Habitat for Humanity of Española Valley and Los Alamos will complete its 10th home by the end of this year. All three new houses are on Camino Habitat, by Los Alamos Highway. One is nearly done. Construction on the other two started last week and should be done in early fall.
About 40 Habitat volunteers traveled from Colorado to help local volunteers get a jump start on the two new homes. In four days they were able to complete the framing, roofs and walls for both homes.
The homes can be a benefit to families that would otherwise not be able to afford a traditional mortgage. Habitat sets the new owners up with an interest-free mortgage and payments that are lower than what a family had been paying in rent. Family members are also expected to help with future Habitat projects, contributing what the organization calls sweat equity.
Director of Operations Yvonne Maestas said Habitat gets some grant funding but the bulk of its local support comes from volunteers and proceeds from its thrift store on Riverside Drive.
“The only way this is successful is to have people helping, because the homeowners can’t do it by themselves,” Maestas said.
One of the three-bedroom homes that will be finished this summer is going to Sally Quintana, a semi-retired nurse.
Quintana, who turned 70 this month, hasn’t owned a home in nearly 50 years.
She married her husband in 1962, she said. They had a small two-bedroom home in La Puebla but it wasn’t big enough to accommodate her family, which eventually included eight children. The family left their La Puebla home and moved into low-income housing.
The kids grew up and several of them went away to college, she said. One son died in 2002. Her husband died the next year. At 60, Quintana decided to go back to school for her substance abuse counseling certification. She now works at the Hoy Recovery Program in Velarde, she said, and does some part-time respite care for a friend.
One of her sons has been living with her since being diagnosed with blood cancer. Along with his young son, Quintana said the three of them don’t have much space in their tiny trailer. The Habitat home is twice the size.
After decades of living in rentals with strict rules and inspections, Quintana said the freedom of being a homeowner is exciting.
“This is mine and I can do whatever I want,” she said. “If I want to plant flowers next to the wall, I will. If I want to paint my bedroom walls tan, I will.”
Volunteers will continue work on the two homes May 18. Until then, Maestas said, the organization is looking to get more people involved.
“We have a real need for local volunteers,” she said, “and there are many different ways people can help.”