Families begin work on self-help homes in San Luis

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — Six families are putting their own labor into homes they expect to occupy here by next summer.

The families are participants in a self-helping housing program offered by Comite de Bienestar, a nonprofit organization that helps low-income families in south Yuma County acquire their own homes.

The families, comprising Group 52 in the self-help housing program, began framing work a week ago on their homes in Section 9 of the Comite's Bienestar Estates subdivision on the east side of the city.

Cecilia Torres, executive assistant for the Comite, said U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has provided $632,000 in financing for the project, part of it in the form of low-interest loans to the families.

And by investing their own labor in part of the construction, the families can further reduce their home costs by about $20,000 each, she said.

For 2012, the Comite has a goal of building 70 new homes in San Luis through its self-help housing program, Torres said.

“It's only a matter of there being funds available to build them,” she said. “The federal government has been cutting funding, but we hope that it doesn't get cut back any more for the housing programs.”