|
Unruh and her 17-year-old son, David, joined 10 other families at what they
thought was a question-and-answer session sponsored by Habitat for Humanity.
Turns out it was one question, and it was directed at the families:
"How would you like to partner with us to build your own home?"
Anita Hellam, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Stanislaus
County, posed the question. She got 11 affirmative responses.
In all, Habitat officials selected 15 families for new houses. Now they just
have to build them.
"I never thought I'd have my own home," Unruh said. "It's going to be a whole
new world."
Brian Niteo, 7, lives with his parents, two sisters, brother and grandmother
in a two-bedroom apartment in Ceres.
"We're tired of sleeping on the floors and couches," he said. "I never had a
real house."
Thursday's surprise announcement secured the futures of 15 families; untold
others still can't get into homes of their own.
It's unknown how large the county's affordable housing need is, but there are
a few indications. The median house price for June was $354,000 and the median
household income is $52,650 a year.
Recent statistics show that only 7.4 percent of houses sold in the county are
affordable to the Modesto family earning the median income.
"Ten years ago, families making $40,000 a year were buying homes. Today, it's
out of reach for those families," said Dave Meling, executive director of the
Stanislaus County Affordable Housing Corporation, a nonprofit organization that
promotes affordable housing.
Soaring housing prices have contributed to the city's demand need for cheaper
housing.
While the city doesn't have complete figures on affordable housing units, it
puts the number of cityand federal-assisted units at 1,200. That does not
include other, private projects.
The affordable housing corporation recently completed Carver Road Estates, a
complex of 18 apartments south of Standiford Avenue. A two-bedroom, one-bathroom
apartment rents for $653.
"The demand was so high we didn't even put a sign up because we couldn't
handle the phone calls," Meling said.
Most of the tenants were on a waiting list for Ashwood Village on West Rumble
Road, which was completed seven years ago.
Once people move into affordable rental housing, usually they don't leave, he
said.
Stanislaus County is one of the nation's least affordable areas for
homeownership, according the National Association of Home Builders.
In addition to seeking homes, people are lining up for help paying rent. The
Housing Authority of the County of Stanislaus has a 7,000-person waiting list
for subsidized housing, said director Rich Chubon.
The Housing Authority opened the waiting list for three days in April. It was
the first time in three years people were added, he said.
"We're falling behind, we're not keeping up with the need," he said
The Housing Authority's most recent development for families was Pine Meadows
on Tully Road and Woodstone Apartments, south of Briggsmore Avenue, in Modesto
five years ago.
To qualify for subsidized housing, most families must earn no more than
$15,800 a year.
About 1,500 people are on a waiting list for housing, he said. And 800 people
a year leave Housing Authority homes.
Most of the people on the waiting list won't get housing for one to two
years, Chubon said.
Habitat has built 24 homes in the county. Most of the families chosen
Thursday by Habitat will live in a 20-unit Modesto subdivision, Hope Village.
The $3 million subdivision will be completed in three years; the 15 families
picked Thursday will have their homes in about a year, Hellam said.
Families must complete 500 hours of work on a home before moving in, Hellam
said. The three-bedroom, one-bath houses will cost the families $100,000, she
said.
Hellam said the need for affordable housing is much greater than she's ever
seen. Many of the people coming to Habitat are nurses, teachers and servicemen,
she said.
"Many of the people that have been approved are either homeless, living in a
car or on someone's couch," she said.
Staff writer Kim Perry can be reached at 578-2331 or
kperry@modbee.com.
|
