Helping with housing — one family at a time

Here’s a ray of sunshine in these incredibly troubled times, courtesy of Northfield, a small Minnesota town with a big heart — and home to the Hernandez family.

Victor and Lorena Hernandez (whose names I’ve changed for privacy) came to the U.S. from Mexico 20 years ago as teenagers. They met, married and had three children, overcoming language, immigration and citizenship barriers along the way. For two decades, they have worked hard and paid taxes. Victor works in manufacturing and does landscaping on the side. Lorena cleans houses. They both provide janitorial services for the local parish.

Their hard-earned money goes to support their immediate family and their extended family in Mexico and to pay rent for a rundown two-bedroom apartment. For them, the American dream of owning a home remained just that — a dream.

That changed when their parish priest introduced them to Bob Thacker and Karen Cherewatuk, a couple who had long been concerned about the lack of affordable housing. As they came to know Victor and Lorena, they thought, maybe they couldn’t solve the housing crisis, but they could help one deserving family own a home.

They began looking for an inexpensive house to renovate, but houses in Northfield start at $300,000. One day, while out on a bike ride, they came across an abandoned, falling-down house. The owner, an elderly woman, had moved into a condo two years ago, because the house had become too much for her.

When Bob and Karen told her they wanted to renovate the house to help a family, not for  financial profit, she gladly sold them the classic Midwest American farmhouse, circa 1890, for $80,000.

Bob, Karen, Victor and Lorena got to work. Soon, many community members joined them. Ultimately, he and Karen put another $110,000 into the three-bedroom home, with the understanding the Hernandezes would get financing and pay them back. The value of the donations and free labor that poured into the nonprofit charity they worked with easily surpassed their contribution.

“I felt like Tom Sawyer painting the fence,” Bob said. “Everyone who came along thought pitching in would be a great idea.” Nobody worked harder than the Hernandezes and their kids.

On Labor Day, after eight months of renovation, the Hernandez family moved in. “We had a fiesta and thanked everyone who worked on the house,” Bob said. “Over 150 people came, including the local priest who blessed the house and each room inside.”

Victor addressed the crowd in tears, thanking everyone for making the dream possible.

For now, the Hernandezes make monthly payments to Bob and Karen, with payments going directly against principal. When interest rates come down, they will take out a bank loan, which they’ve been approved for, and pay off the note.

“When the money comes back to us, we want to do this again,” Bob said.

If your heart isn’t warmed now, check your pulse.

Bob hopes others may be inspired to repeat the model in their communities. Here’s the formula:

Get good guidance. Bob sought advice from a woman he knew who ran the local Habitat for Humanity. Habitat homes are typically new construction, while the Starfish House model, as they named it, renovates existing houses. But “Habitat has this down to a science and were a great resource,” Bob said, and so were the bankers, a lawyer and a local architect who joined the cause.

Tap the community. All told, nearly 100 local residents volunteered to help, including framers, carpenters and designers.