Gilroy
– Every day, Luis Arnandez walks his two sons, ages 2 and 5, to
the childcare center in his Los Arroyos neighborhood. There, his
kids are able to play, learn and nap while Arnandez and his wife
work and run errands.
Gilroy – Every day, Luis Arnandez walks his two sons, ages 2 and 5, to the childcare center in his Los Arroyos neighborhood. There, his kids are able to play, learn and nap while Arnandez and his wife work and run errands.
“That is really helping to me,” said Arnandez, who works at a paper recycling company in San Jose. “The food there is good for my kids, and they learn about nutrition, and they get to have fun. It’s good.”
The Arnandez family moved into South County Housing’s master planned Los Arroyos neighborhood just off Santa Teresa Boulevard about two years ago. Before that, the family rented apartments in Gilroy for 12 years.
“What I was paying then in rent is probably pretty close to what I’m paying now in mortgage,” he said. “But now, the difference is, what I’m paying for is mine.”
Finally being able to say that is a dream come true for the longtime Gilroy resident.
“That was something that was very exciting for me. It was something real in my life, something I had,” he said.
Los Arroyos, a 62-acre community, is a generous mix of apartments, townhouses and single-family homes for families with varying levels of income. Sixty percent of the 373 units are affordable to families with incomes ranging from moderate to very low. Los Arroyos also offers housing for seniors and disabled people.
About 150 of Los Arroyos homes sold at market rate, 42 at near-market rate and 65 at below-market rate. Forty-four of the units were constructed through South County Housing’s sweat-equity program, where groups of families help construct their own and each other’s homes under the organization’s administration and construction supervision.
The families complete the majority of the construction themselves, including hanging drywall, painting and landscaping. Sweat-equity participants who work regular, full-time jobs during the day use their weekends and evenings to build the houses.
The result are lowered building costs, which makes it more feasible for low-income families to own a home.
Driving through Los Arroyos, it’s hard to tell the difference between which homes are market rate and which are sweat-equity. The entire neighborhood seems unified and calm, with bright-eyed children playing basketball on smoothly paved driveways. Small trees anchored firmly in the front yards of the three-year-old community hold promise to someday reach to the sky.
Los Arroyos is Gilroy’s shining example of how integrated communities can succeed. But the neighborhood is only one of many similar projects of South County Housing, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
The organization works in Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. It has constructed several neighborhoods in Morgan Hill, Hollister, Watsonville, Castroville, Boronda, Freedom, Marina and Pajaro, and it currently is building Pacific Grove’s first-ever affordable housing project.
At South County Housing’s Silver Anniversary celebration Wednesday night, Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro recalled meeting Dolores Ferrera coming into his office 25 years ago looking for insurance for South County Housing.
“Little did I know 20 some odd years ago, that I’d be the Mayor of Gilroy and still connected to South County,” Pinheiro said. “Dolores illustrates it’s not just a job, but the commitment to make a difference in people’s lives in terms of housing. We were lucky enough that they began their work in Gilroy.”
South County Housing Executive Director Dennis Lalor – on the organization’s behalf – accepted a number of awards from local and regional leaders including Pinheiro, District 1 Supervisor Don Gage and Assemblyman Simón Salinas.
“I take a look back at the past 25 years and wonder how we did it,” Lalor said, noting the severe lack of affordable housing in the area South County Housing serves.
This year, Salinas residents Juvee and Lourdes Pimentel received South County Housing’s Bruce Gunn Award, given annually to the family that most embodies the principals of South County Housing’s self-help program. The award is named for Bruce Gunn, who worked for South County Housing from 1997 until he died of cancer in 2001.
South County Housing had the humble beginnings of a small staff with a big vision. A common theme in Wednesday night’s celebration was how far the corporation has come in its 25-year history.
Juan Uranga, executive director of the Center for Community Advocacy, began his work with the corporation in 1979. At the time, Uranga was a recent law school graduate and worked in Gilroy as directing attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance Inc.
One day, a group of determined community members marched into Uranga’s office to solicit his help in establishing an organization that would address Gilroy’s lack of affordable farm worker housing – a request Uranga said he thought at the time was “outrageous.”
“Back then, Gilroy was a very small farming community situated in a very large, very urban Santa Clara County,” he said. “Gilroy was the stepchild of Santa Clara County, but it had a thriving farm worker community. The idea that community-based people would say, ‘We don’t want to depend on outside help anymore,’ was amazing to me. They wanted to determine their own destiny.”
Uranga agreed to the group’s request, and he became the first general counsel for South County Housing.
“I can honestly say that at the time, I had no idea South County Housing would grow to be the wonderful and hugely successful corporation it is today,” Uranga said.
And the organization does more than simply help people apply for a home, he added.
“They have a beautiful way of involving the farm workers with the units they build,” he said. “They involve them in every aspect of the project, from design to management. They have a way of dealing with farm workers that I wish every nonprofit had.”
SC Housing communities in Gilroy
Affordable apartment communities
Name of community Unit type Constructed
• Trees Apartments 14 farm worker family units 1982
• Redwoods Apartments 24 family units 1992
• Monticelli Apartments 52 senior and family units 2002
Affordable single-family neighborhoods
• Chestnut Square 4 family homes 1982
• Laurelwood Homes 16 self-help family homes 1987
• Trimble Court/La Maestra 25 family homes 2004
Mixed-income neighborhoods
• Glenbrook Homes 35 family homes
and 30 self-help homes 1995
• Alderwood Homes 40 family homes
and 20 self-help homes 1997
• Summerhill Homes 45 family homes
and 20 self-help homes 1999
