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Future Homeowner Yareni
Hardwork and resilience on the journey to homeownership Meet Yareni, a dedicated mother of five who will soon be moving into her new home in
13 Aug, 2024
Original Habitat homeowner adds ADU to her property
Angelica bought her West Denver home from Habitat Metro Denver in 1994, and raised her four sons there. Now, 20 years later, she is partnering with Habitat once again to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on her lot, allowing her family to continue to grow and maintain affordability and stability.
“It was hard with four boys in a small house, but we did it,’’ shares Angelica, 60, who works as a teaching assistant. When their family moved into their Habitat home, theirs was one of five Habitat homes on their block, and they felt supported by their neighbors and Habitat community. After Angelica’s husband left the family, she did childcare in the home to support her sons
Today, Angelica still shares her home with three of her sons – Claudio, 35, Cesar, 25, and Isaiah, 17. Claudio currently sleeps in the family room, but he will move into and pay the low-cost mortgage on the ADU.
“Housing is so expensive in Denver. Even a studio apartment is expensive,” shares Claudio, who is a visitor operations manager at an art museum, but is also working on paying off his student loans. “This will be a great option. And f I end up moving out later, my mom can rent out the ADU for extra income or my brothers can live there. It provides nice flexibility for mom and our family.”
Above: Angelica in front of her Habitat home, built in 1994, looking at photos showing the progress of the ADU being built today on her property. She partnered with Habitat on both projects, keeping her home affordable for her family.
The ADU program is a partnership between Habitat Metro Denver and the West Denver Renaissance Collaborative (WDRC). WDRC finds and works with homeowners who are ready to build affordable and accessible ADUs on their property. Then, Habitat serves as the designer and contractor, using staff and volunteers to build the ADUs.
Most families in the WDRC/Habitat program build an ADU for a relative – as Angelica is doing – or to rent out the space for supplemental income. The ADU owner or occupant pays a low interest mortgage or rent. Angelica met the requirements for the lot size to build an ADU, and the finished unit will have a living room, a kitchen, a laundry room, one bathroom and one bedroom.
“I had a big yard. I always complained about how big the lawn was,” shares Angelica. “Now, it will have a purpose.”
Claudio handles most of the yard work at the family’s home now, but Angelica worried about what would happen when she got too old to take care of the house and all her sons moved out. Now, she knows she can use the space to keep her family together.
“Habitat is a blessing. I discovered it a long time ago, and I have been really blessed,” said Angelica. “I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t know about them.”
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