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Angela Chavez waters houseplants inside her Clifton home she helped build through a Housing Resources of Western Colorado program.
Angela Chavez is looking forward to cooking a Thanksgiving meal for her three children in their new home, and then having the time to sit down together and enjoy it.
The youngest, 12-year-old Natasha is especially excited. For about six months she didn't sit down very often to a meal with her mother.
That's because after working all day as a preschool teacher at Dos Rios Elementary School, Chavez would rush to the building site in Clifton where she and six other families were building their own homes, together.
Housing Resources of Western Colorado's Self-Help Housing program helps qualified homebuyers afford homes by giving them the opportunity to earn down payments with “sweat equity.”
Groups of eight to 11 people work together under supervision, building their own and each other's houses. No one moves in until all the homes are completed.
The supervisor explained how and why things were done, Chavez said.
After demonstrating how to do something he'd stand back and let you do it, she said.
“Then if you need him he's there to walk you through it,” Chavez said. He'd say, “‘I'm here to help you, not build it for you.'”
To qualify for the program, you must have an income, good credit, and be able to work 30 hours a week building the subdivision under the guidance of a general contractor supervisor.
“I would work every night from 5-9 p.m.,” Chavez said.
Sometimes she'd arrive to the site by 4:30 p.m. She also worked eight hours on Saturday.
Chavez remembered when her daughter asked, “When we're done can we eat like normal people again?”
A single mother since 1993, Chavez has been a preschool teacher for three years. She's worked in preschools since 1986.
Chavez, 50, and her neighbors began building their houses last December. They moved in and closed on the homes in July.
“It was exciting to be a part of it,” Chavez said. “I never thought I'd be able to afford my own home.”
Getting to know your neighbors before moving in was nice, she said.
“I have a new best friend now living next to me,” Chavez said.
The neighborhood has organized two block parties since they all moved in.
The 30-hour work week requirement was challenging but doable, especially with the help given by members of her Monument Presbyterian Church, and other friends who contributed to the hours. Her 19-year-old college student son Matthew also helped.
Natasha was too young to work on the house but she participated by cleaning up trash at the work site on weekends.
Mother and daughter returned again each Sunday to “check out the process,” Chavez said. Natasha eagerly picked out her room while the house was still being built.
Chavez's 23-year-old son Dalton, who lives in Denver, often visits his mother on the weekends to help with landscaping and putting up a fence.
“He's been a good part of this new house, so it's nice,” Chavez said.
He'll be there for Thanksgiving.
Chavez will cook a turkey, potatoes and pumpkin pie for her two sons and daughter Thursday, and whatever else the kids want, she said.
They all love their home, Chavez said.
“Natasha has friends. She knew (neighborhood) kids before she started a new school. They walk to the bus stop together,” Chavez said.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
The youngest, 12-year-old Natasha is especially excited. For about six months she didn't sit down very often to a meal with her mother.
That's because after working all day as a preschool teacher at Dos Rios Elementary School, Chavez would rush to the building site in Clifton where she and six other families were building their own homes, together.
Housing Resources of Western Colorado's Self-Help Housing program helps qualified homebuyers afford homes by giving them the opportunity to earn down payments with “sweat equity.”
Groups of eight to 11 people work together under supervision, building their own and each other's houses. No one moves in until all the homes are completed.
The supervisor explained how and why things were done, Chavez said.
After demonstrating how to do something he'd stand back and let you do it, she said.
“Then if you need him he's there to walk you through it,” Chavez said. He'd say, “‘I'm here to help you, not build it for you.'”
To qualify for the program, you must have an income, good credit, and be able to work 30 hours a week building the subdivision under the guidance of a general contractor supervisor.
“I would work every night from 5-9 p.m.,” Chavez said.
Sometimes she'd arrive to the site by 4:30 p.m. She also worked eight hours on Saturday.
Chavez remembered when her daughter asked, “When we're done can we eat like normal people again?”
A single mother since 1993, Chavez has been a preschool teacher for three years. She's worked in preschools since 1986.
Chavez, 50, and her neighbors began building their houses last December. They moved in and closed on the homes in July.
“It was exciting to be a part of it,” Chavez said. “I never thought I'd be able to afford my own home.”
Getting to know your neighbors before moving in was nice, she said.
“I have a new best friend now living next to me,” Chavez said.
The neighborhood has organized two block parties since they all moved in.
The 30-hour work week requirement was challenging but doable, especially with the help given by members of her Monument Presbyterian Church, and other friends who contributed to the hours. Her 19-year-old college student son Matthew also helped.
Natasha was too young to work on the house but she participated by cleaning up trash at the work site on weekends.
Mother and daughter returned again each Sunday to “check out the process,” Chavez said. Natasha eagerly picked out her room while the house was still being built.
Chavez's 23-year-old son Dalton, who lives in Denver, often visits his mother on the weekends to help with landscaping and putting up a fence.
“He's been a good part of this new house, so it's nice,” Chavez said.
He'll be there for Thanksgiving.
Chavez will cook a turkey, potatoes and pumpkin pie for her two sons and daughter Thursday, and whatever else the kids want, she said.
They all love their home, Chavez said.
“Natasha has friends. She knew (neighborhood) kids before she started a new school. They walk to the bus stop together,” Chavez said.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
