Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County recently dedicated the local affiliate’s 23rd Habitat home, and broke ground on what will become its 24th and 25th homes.
The home dedication was in honor of a rehabilitated home and the family taking ownership of it, Rocio and her son Pablo.
Originally built in 1921, the house was previously a rental unit. It was thoroughly renovated and improved under the direction of local general contractor and former Habitat Santa Barbara Board member Ann Burgard.
“… thanks to the hard work of our team, volunteers, and most importantly Rocio herself, it’s been completely transformed into a safe, welcoming, and beautiful home,” Burgard said.
Some 60 people gathered in Ortega Park to celebrate the home dedication and ground breaking, within view of the homes on Cota Street.
At the dedication, Rocio and her son cut a giant blue ribbon to represent officially purchasing their home. At the groundbreaking, a crowd gathered to watch the two future homeowner families grab shovels to officially start the project that will become their homes.
Burgard presented Rocio with a Habitat hammer, and praised the newest Habitat Santa Barbara homeowner for her dedication to completing her 250 hours of “sweat equity,” which is part of Habitat’s model and a requirement for the homeownership program.
“I want to take a moment to talk about Rocio’s journey,” Burgard said. “When she started this project, she didn’t have any background in construction — zero. But week after week, hour after hour, she showed up. She asked questions, rolled up her sleeves, and learned.”
Habitat Santa Barbara CEO Jessica Wishan de L’Arbre presented Rocio and Pablo gifts to mark the occasion, as well as a key to mark the completion of their journey to becoming homeowners.
“Moments like this are exactly why we’re a part of Habitat for Humanity,” de L’Arbre said. “They remind us what’s possible when a community comes together with compassion and determination and the belief that decent, affordable housing is something everyone deserves.”
With regard to the goundbreaking, Tracy Stouffer, Habitat Santa Barbara Board member, said, “Today isn’t just about celebrating what has been accomplished, it’s also about welcoming what’s ahead.
“I’m thrilled to introduce the two newest families selected to join our Habitat homeownership program for the property two doors away: the Torres family and the Lopez family,” said Stouffer, who chairs the volunteer-led family selection committee.
The two local families will each work to complete 250 hours of sweat equity as part of the process of rehabilitating or finishing their home or that of their future neighbor.
“Thanks to the skilled leadership of Ann Burgard, Habitat will now lead the Lopez and Torres families, along with groups of volunteers, in upgrading a historic home and constructing an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) behind it,” de L’Arbre said.
“This site will be one of our first to use an innovative Tenants in Common model, allowing the new ADU to be sold rather than rented, as well as our first modular home design constructed offsite but still allowing room for sweat equity and volunteer support,” she said.