June 8 , 2006, Bakersfield — At a June 1 ceremony, NeighborWorks® America awarded a $150,000 grant to Self-Help Enterprises in support of the organization’s expansion into the City of Bakersfield, a fast-growing California Central Valley city.
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Big Check presentation: Mary Clark, Pacific District; Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall; SHE Vice President Tom Collishaw; Congressman Jim Costa; Bakersfield Councilperson Jacquie Sullivan. |
Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hill, and Councilmember Jacquie Sullivan attended the June 1 ceremony to show their support for Self-Help Enterprises. Costa, who represents Bakersfield and is a former state legislator, spoke of the important work accomplished by Self-Help Enterprises in the Central Valley over the past 40 years. Through Self-Help Enterprises, more than 5,400 low-income Central Valley residents used their "sweat equity" to earn the downpayment on new homes that they otherwise could not afford. This arrangement is known as “mutual self-help housing.” Costa also offered his support at the federal level to NeighborWorks America, a Congressionally-funded organization that provides grants, training and other support to a network of more than 240 community development organizations across the country.
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| Groundbreaking: Self-Help Enterprises (SHE) CEO Peter Carey; City of Bakersfield Principal Planner Vince Zaragoza; Bakersfield Councilperson Jacquie Sullivan; Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall; Congressman Jim Costa; Matthews Homes representative David Corey; Pacific District Interim Director Mary Clark; SHE Vice President Tom Collishaw. |
In a first for this NeighborWorks organization, Self-Help Enterprises is partnering with a private-sector builder, working together to meet Bakersfield’s inclusionary affordable housing requirements. Self-Help Enterprises is buying developed lots from the builder to complete 52 mutual self-help housing units over a three- to four-year period as the entire subdivision is built out. The June 1event was the groundbreaking for the first phase of 12 self-help houses. Families will work together on their houses, with supervision from Self-Help Enterprises, for about 10 or 11 months.
In California, financial support for urban self help projects such as this one has been funded by voter-approved bond measures. This state funding is now exhausted. Self-Help Enterprises and Bakersfield nevertheless are able to move forward for this first phase as a result of NeighborWorks America’s grant, which covers the gap in staff costs and loan subsidies for families.
