Pomona Valley Habitat for Humanity and its team of volunteers are building a home for a low-income family for the first time at the Los Angeles County Fair.
Katrina Hughes, a homemaker from Ontario, will own the home along with her husband and three kids.
Hughes and her husband did not believe owning a home would ever be possible until now.
“We were really excited and shocked and we didn’t see it coming,” Hughes said. “When we found out we were chosen to live in the home; a bunch of people came to the house and brought two [L.A. County] Fair characters. We were just so shocked and overwhelmed.”
The foundation of the house, phase one, is being built at the Fair. Phases two and three are being built in Chino.
The foundation of the house is the structure on which the rest of the house is being built.
This particular house foundation is made out of wood.
The house is being built from Sept. 8 to Oct. 1 and fairgoers will be able to tour the home during the last weekend of the Fair.
According to David Wood, board member for Habitat for Humanity, the bolts that hold the two halves of the house together, will be undone the last day of the fair and the house flooring will be split in half.
The house will be towed during the night to C and 2nd streets in Chino.
The homes that are built for the families are not just handed to them.
“That’s the worst impression about Habitat for Humanity,” Hughes said. “The house is not free. We put in a $2,000-$3,000 down payment and the 500-hour foot equity is the closing cost.”
The homes are sold to families with an interest free loan and Habitat for Humanity does not receive a profit, but the families cannot turn around and sell the house so easily.
“The families can’t sell the home for way more than what it was worth,” Wood said. “They have to go back to Habitat for Humanity and get their money back.”
Many of the volunteers bonded while working on the house and encouraged more people to come out and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.
“I think it is a great organization,” said Jared Wright, a 22-year-old volunteer. “There are so many people without homes and its going to be a nice home. People shouldn’t have to live badly just because they can’t afford it.”
The Hughes family did not mind participating in the building of their home.
“One of the best parts is helping to build the house and seeing the slabs of wood. It’s an amazing feeling to help build your own home,” Hughes said.
Lanesha Miller, a 19-year-old fairgoer from Fontana, noticed how excited the volunteers were while building the home.
“You can tell that the volunteers really care about other families,” Miller said. “They seemed happy, enthused and they weren’t complaining.”
Wescom Credit Union joined forces with Habitat for Humanity to help build the home.
Wood said that food vendors have been donating food to the volunteers and Sparkletts has been donating water.
The house will be relocated to a lot that once was the home of a store.
“The city of Chino bought the lot,” Wood said. “It was an old store and they paid to tear it down and they bought the lot.”
The home will be 1,200 square feet and have three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The lot the house will be on is a two-garage lot.
Habitat for Humanity has been asked to come back to the Fair next year to build homes. Volunteers will be needed.
For more information about Habitat for Humanity, visit www.habitatpv.org.
Telon Weathington can be reached at tweathington@ulv.edu.
Telon Weathington
