Orozco Home
As we come together in our community to serve families, we celebrate collaboration, hard work, and brighter futures. The Orozco and Vergara families didn’t know each other before they were selected last year to be recipients of Habitat for Humanity houses. On Sunday, September 25th, they celebrated together … along with more than 150 community members at their Piru home dedications. Neither family has owned their own home before, and as part of the Habitat agreement, each family had to put in 500 hours of “sweat equity” before moving in. Being an integral part of the building process gives Habitat families new insight into caring for their homes and pride of homeownership for years to come.
The Orozco Family
A Habitat home… the foundation on which a family can build a better life.
Habitat’s unique model sets up families to be successful both financially and as members of the community. Habitat offers a “hand-up,” not a hand-out. All Habitat families pay Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County for the cost of building their homes–approximately $190,000. Thanks to an affordable no-interest loan, the house payment is often less than what a family would pay for rent. These dedications marked the 53rd and 54th homes built since groundbreaking on the first new home in Ventura County in 1994. To-date, 24 Habitat homes have been built in Piru. All of our original homeowners still reside in their homes.
Each year, hundreds of Habitat donors, sponsors, volunteers and advocates enable Habitat to help more families in need.
Through a donation of funds from the County, Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County was able to acquire the parcel of land on Temescal, whi ch included an abandoned hotel. In partnership with more than 60 volunteers from the community, Habitat immediately improved the neighborhood through the demolition and removal of this structurally unsafe, debris-filled hotel. After the hotel was demolished, Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County and sponsors, St. Maximilian Kolbe’s “Habitat to the Max” Ministry, Houweling Nurseries Oxnard, Inc., and the County of Ventura teamed up to build two Habitat homes. Volunteers from St. Maximilian Kolbe Church dedicated the day to the Rev. Patrick O’Dwyer, a parish priest who died suddenly two years ago.
Together, we are making a difference that will last a lifetime.
