Homeowners Jesus + Arely

In his construction work, Jesus has built affordable homes. Now, he and his family are buying one of their own.

Jesus, Arely, and their four children will move into a four-bedroom townhome at Habitat’s Clara Brown Commons community in Denver.

There’s no privacy in the two-bedroom mobile home in Englewood where Jesus and Arely live with their two daughters and two sons, ages 1, 3, 10, and 13. So, their new four-bedroom Habitat for Humanity townhome in the Clara Brown Commons community in Denver will be a dream come true.

“My oldest two children are excited about having their own rooms,’’ shares Jesus, a construction supervisor. “My wife is excited about having a bigger kitchen and a bigger laundry room.”

In their current home, the couple’s older children usually sleep in the living room and pretend they are camping, Jesus shares. There isn’t enough storage space in the 50-ft. by 13-ft. mobile home, and there’s only one bathroom. “We’re all looking forward to having a bigger place where we can all have some privacy,’’ he said.

Jesus and Arely have yearned for a larger home, but were discouraged by soaring housing prices. At his last construction job, Jesus worked on low-income houses and asked about buying one. His supervisor told him about Habitat for Humanity, and he applied and qualified. The family will pay no more than 30% of their gross monthly income for the mortgage, insurance, taxes, and other costs.

“It is very exciting to be first-time home buyers,” said Jesus.

During the summer months, Jesus works 12-hour days and some Saturdays overseeing dry walling, insulation installation, and framing at construction sites. He works hard to also fit in the 100 hours of sweat equity required for his family’s Habitat home. At night, Jesus and Arely have started to take Habitat’s homeownership classes to learn about budgeting, credit, insurance, home maintenance, how to be a good neighbor, and other skills that will help them succeed as first-time homeowners.

“We have to juggle things around to make time to learn these things,” shares Jesus. And finding a quiet place in the mobile home to learn isn’t easy either.

But recently, Jesus and Arely drove by their future two-story townhome in the Clara Brown Commons community, and they felt like the exciting reality of their new home began to sink in.

“It is a very exciting thing to be first-time home buyers,’’ shares Jesus. “I want to show my oldest kids we don’t have to be stuck in a two-bedroom place and that if they want to, they can do better for themselves.”