Housing assistance loans to fund projects in San Miguel, Nipomo

People’s Self Help Housing qualifies for more than $300,000 to support development of new single-family homes

– People’s Self-Help Housing has qualified for two impactful loans from the Housing Assistance Council (HAC). These funds, totaling more than $300,000, will support the development of new single-family homes in Nipomo and San Miguel as part of PSHH’s nationally recognized Self-Help Home Ownership program.

PSHH’s Home Ownership team assists low-income families with the construction of new homes through the mutual self-help method, which sees teams of ten households building together alongside professional tradespeople under the supervision of PSHH staff. The program reduces costs to the future homeowners by 20-25-percent and sees each team contributing about 2,000 hours of construction labor – “sweat equity”, which acts as the down payment for their house. The program also offers homebuyer education, mortgage counseling, and specialized construction training at no cost to the participating families.

Owning a home is traditionally one of the best ways to build wealth. However, this gateway to financial opportunity for many households remains out of reach. Through the ‘sweat equity’ model, PSHH has been building alongside families for over fifty years, and has seen generations of owner-builders move from poverty to prosperity.

“We are so grateful for the Housing Assistance Council and their continued financial investment in our homeownership program,” said PSHH Vice President of Home Ownership Sheryl Flores. “This funding will create a lasting impact and open the door to homeownership for numerous families throughout San Luis Obispo County.”

This funding will allow PSHH to build 10 new two-story homes in Nipomo and 15-single story homes in San Miguel through its home ownership program. All homes will have attached two-car garages, PV Solar, and energy-efficient design. Their team anticipates that applications for both developments will be available in late 2022.

“HAC is thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership with PSHH,” said Eileen Neely, HAC’s Director of Lending. “Working with organizations like PSHH helps HAC achieve our goal of building homes and communities in rural areas. As housing affordability becomes a greater challenge for communities in California and across the country, programs like SHOP make housing more accessible to the people who need it most.”

The Housing Assistance Council is a national nonprofit that supports affordable housing efforts throughout rural America. Since 1971, HAC has provided below-market financing for affordable housing and community development, technical assistance and training, research and information, and policy formulation to enable solutions for rural communities throughout the United States.

To learn more about People’s Self-Help Housing, visit pshhc.org.

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