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Self-Help Builder News June 2012 Volume 5, Issue #2 >
Lilia Jimenez – Original Homebuilder and SHE Board Member
By Jessica Zuckerman
Reprinted with permission from Self-Help Enterprises
Fragrant, bright-pink rosebushes line the sidewalk that leads to a proud yet modest home surrounded by shade trees. Inside, the Jimenez home is decorated with lovely ornaments, family portraits and wonderful memories. While appearing to be a typical single-family home, in reality it is a historical landmark. You see, Lilia Jimenez, mother of 14 and a farmworker with little formal education, built this home with her family 50 years ago in the community of Goshen, just outside of Visalia.
Building in the winter Tule fog and early summer heat, three families worked together and with every board that was cut, nail hammered and shingle mounted, they built their dream homes with their own hands.
Back in 1962, Bard McAllister of the American Friends Service Committee had walked the streets of Goshen looking for families that might be interested in working together to build their own homes under a new concept that was later to become known as mutual self-help. Lilia Jimenez and her husband Frank responded to the opportunity Bard offered, along with two other families, and in doing so, they left footprints to be followed by thousands of families throughout the San Joaquin Valley and across the country.
Over the following weeks, the families met with Bard to go over financing, construction plans and homeownership issues. With a very limited income and a very large family, the Jimenez family ended up borrowing $6,800 a 4% interest to build the home they had always wanted. Their monthly payments were $31.
Even though Lilia had to abandon first grade to help support her family when her mother passed away, she eagerly learned about all the aspects of home construction as she interacted with architects, subcontractors and interior designers. Howard Washburn, who would become the first Executive Director of Self-Help Enterprises two years later, served as the construction supervisor. Building in the winter Tule fog and early summer heat, three families worked together and with every board that was cut, nail hammered and shingle mounted, they built their dream homes with their own hands. The construction process was arduous but she remembers moments of friendship and light-hearted laughter that offered relief from the daily grind as Lilia and Frank labored with the other families to complete their homes.
Lilia fondly remembers how, at first, Howard would bring a bag lunch while everyone else would enjoy the food she prepared. Apparently, he was reluctant to try her remarkable chili. When he did, the spices forced beads of sweat to form on his forehead and his face turned tomato red. Howard became accustomed to it and soon was devouring bowls of chili larger than any of the men in Lilia's family.
The months of building were a time of perseverance and self-sacrifice, as they worked almost impossible hours in pursuit of their dream. Frank was the night watchman at a local business and would work hours on his home before leaving for the factory. Lilia remembers that on the days when they were scheduled to pour concrete, he came home from work in the early morning hours and returned directly to the work on the homes.
When it was all done, Lilia and Frank were proud to finally have a well built, insulated home in which to raise their children. Even the most basic of amenities were a source of pride. Daughter Yolanda was thrilled that for the first time in her life she wouldn't have to go outside if she needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
After building her own home, Lilia also became very active in recruiting and organizing other families to build their own self-help homes. Howard Washburn asked that she keep track of the meetings they held for the families. With the help of her son as her recorder, Lilia maintained meticulous notes of the meetings. When Howard reviewed what she had given him, he couldn't believe that she was unable to read and write. Her excellent memory and careful attention to detail has aided her all her life. In fact, Lilia is one of the incorporators of Self-Help Enterprises and an original board member from the organization's founding in 1965.
Today, the Jimenez children are all successful, educated members of the community and serve as nurses, teachers and office managers. They credit the stability of the home that they built themselves and the benefits of homeownership – with giving them the foundation upon which to build their lives.
Lilia's home stands in Goshen where it all began almost 50 years ago – the perfect example of what can be achieved through the mutual self-help home construction process. Many families soon followed in the footsteps of the Jimenez family – and they are following still.
Pictured in photo is Lilia and one of her 11 children nailing shingles on the roof of their new home. The whole family pitched in to help.