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Windsor Self-Help Housing: Grand Opening
Self-Help Housing: Grand Opening from RCAC on Vimeo.
In California's wine country, 22 low-income families celebrate their new homes, which they built themselves.
For more on Mutual Self-Help Housing program: rcac.org/pages/95
Find out more about housing challenges for low-income workers in high-cost wine country: rcac.org/pages/1125
Under the USDA contract, RCAC helps organizations across the west
build homes financed through the Mutual Self-Help Housing program.
Chaparral Leadership Development Training
This group participated in our four-month leadership development training, and is now trying to bring comprehensive recycling to the colonia of 20,000.
Native American Water Masters Association
NAWMA is a forum to bring people with similar water system roles and responsibilities together to promote professionalism through training, education and communication.
Build Your Home
In USDA's Mutual Self-Help Housing program, low-income borrowers work together under the guidance of a nonprofit public housing entity (self-help grantee) to build each others’ homes. With a construction supervisor on site, these building groups perform at least 65 percent of the construction work required (known as “sweat equity”) to build their homes. In most cases, the grantee also manages the construction loans, develops the building site, provides homeownership training, offers building plans, qualifies the borrower for his/her mortgage and markets the program in the service area.
RCAC provides additional resources through annual, regional self-help housing conferences and statewide meetings on land development, loan packaging, construction supervision and other related topics at the request of the grantees and USDA Rural Development.
Construya Su Propia Casa
El programa de Ayuda Mutua brinda servicios a personas de muy bajos y bajos ingresos dispuestos y capases para participar en la construcción de su propia casa en conjunto con 10 - 12 familias. El programa requiere que las familias construyan 65% de su casa y se comprometen a trabajar no menos de 40 horas por semana.
Un organización provee supervisores de construcción los cuales entrenan y supervisaran a los participantes durante la etapa de construcción. Otro de los requisitos es que los participantes del programa asistan a clases de Pre-Compra y asesoramiento además de clases sobre requisitos para ser propietario de casa. El proceso de construcción toma aproximadamente 10 a 12 meses para terminar la última casa. Las familias pueden mudar a su nueva casa una vez que sean inspeccionadas por el Departamento USDA Rural Development.
Crescent City Harbor video
Crescent City is rebuilding its harbor following the devastating 2011 tsunami. RCAC’s short-term $3.7 million gap loan and $8.1 million revolving line of credit keep the project afloat between federal and state disaster funding disbursements.
Repairing the harbor, a major commercial fishing port for both Del Norte County and Northern California, is urgent in a county with 13.5 percent unemployment and a median household income of $20,133. Two hundred jobs depend directly on harbor facilities, and another 100 jobs indirectly. RCAC financing is critical to restoring the local fishing and tourism industries.
Lower Rio Grand Public Water Works Authority
In rural southern New Mexico, five colonias, unincorporated towns along the border-- Vado, Berino, Desert Sands, Mesquite, and La Mesa-- merge their water systems to expand and improve access to clean, reliable water with help from RCAC. The LRG Public Water Works Authority serves these five colonias and Del Cerro, Joy Drive Subdivision, Las Palmeras, and Montana Vista communities.
All videos are produced and edited by Jeremy Raff, RCAC multimedia specialist.