LA HABRA : Group Helps Build Community Life

Glenn D. Hayes believes renovating a neighborhood takes more than just giving an old house a face lift.

In recent years, Hayes, executive director of the La Habra Neighborhood Housing Services, has enlisted residents to provide assistance that goes beyond the basics.

“As a neighborhood program we cannot just focus on housing,” Hayes said. “We have to be concerned about the whole neighborhood.”

Since its inception in 1977, the nonprofit organization has provided $3.5 million in loans for homes, new roofs and plumbing to families in La Habra’s older neighborhoods who are unable to get conventional financing.

“We’re lending to so-called ‘unbankable’ people,” Hayes said. “They’re people who pay their bills, but they just can’t get loans because they lack credit, equity or don’t meet particular income levels. We’re sort of a bank of last resort,” he added.

NHS operates on a revolving loan system, and its $232,000 annual budget is primarily drawn from insurance industry contributions and donations from savings and loans and city agencies. Through low-interest loans, about 20% of the city’s residents have been able to renovate their homes and change their communities.

“It has really changed the housing stock in this city,” said resident Antonio Valle, an educator who also serves as president on the NHS Board of Directors. “Where there were once shacks and empty lots, there are brand new homes.”

But the services extend beyond home improvements.

“We have become a link between local businesses and the Latino community in La Habra,” said Hayes.

Last year, an anti-gang program and an anti-graffiti beautification committee were started. Workshops in leadership development and financing are held throughout the year. And the organization’s latest program is making an impact with parents and children in the community: the Impact Committee.

The 7-month-old committee is attempting to improve the quality of life in the predominantly Latino neighborhoods.

“You just can’t fix the barrios and leave. We knew we had to do more than just housing,” said Mary Lou Gomez, committee chairman. Gomez, a lifelong La Habra resident, has spent the last 11 years teaching low-income Hispanic women about basic home economics.

The work started with a Summer Positive Alternative youth program offering volleyball and potluck picnics as ways to keep youths off the streets.

Two months ago, Impact Committee member Rosie Hernandez-Espinoza, seeing a dismal future for her own 9-year-old son, started an after-school program that kept youngsters busy while providing a quiet place to study and a tutoring resource.

“It keeps kids busy. The older kids tutor the younger ones,” she explained.

Residents volunteer their homes as tutoring locations from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Students who finish early engage in mathematics or spelling games to pass the time.

“We’re trying to organize a study group in all of the neighborhoods,” she said.

Parents and students from the local colleges and high schools volunteer their tutoring services as well.

“We all need to reach out into the community more,” said Hernandez-Espinoza, who spends her days helping in the neighborhood and her nights working as a computer draftsman. “And we need to get the kids spending more time in positive pursuits and out of gangs. That’s what helps the neighborhood.”