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When families are disqualified from the homeowner selection process, it is a setback but not the end of their dream of owning a Habitat home.

Since Habitat introduced the Homebuyer Readiness Program (HRP) earlier this year, more than 300 families have attended three new workshops that address the biggest problem areas causing disqualifications from the Habitat program, including: high debt, bad credit and poor money management.

“Families are becoming more aware of the issues that they never thought about before and it is empowering them to take more control,” says Lydia Lopez, program consultant.

Many families have very little knowledge of how to change their credit scores, spending habits and debt. The HRP workshops give them the information they need to change their financial situation and help get them on the right path to setting realistic goals, like budgeting, saving and on-time bill payment. One-on-one credit counseling is also available to families.

Rather than dwelling on past problems and missteps, the workshops give families tools and resources to make positive changes that will help them attain the home of their dreams. “We try to keep focused on the future and about moving forward,” says Lopez.
“I made many mistakes in the past because I did not know anything about credit.”

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Arcenio and his wife Bertha used to prepare two Thanksgiving turkeys in the small kitchen of their cramped one bedroom apartment, load them into the car alongside their four children and drive to his niece’s house to celebrate the holiday, leaving behind the mouth-watering aromas that filled the kitchen after hours of cooking and basting.

This year Arcenio will carve out new holiday traditions. He will start by returning his niece’s hospitality and welcoming her to his new three-bedroom Redwood City home for Thanksgiving dinner. “We have the same amount of food but now our space is bigger and we don’t have to go anywhere. Our family can celebrate with us in our new home,” said Arcenio.

Arcenio and Bertha acquired their home as part of Habitat Greater SF’s affordable housing program for local working families. After completing 500 hours of “sweat equity” on the construction site, as well as extensive homeownership training, the family purchased the home with an affordable, zero-interest mortgage and no down payment.

When Arcenio moved from Mexico to California, he had a goal to provide his family with the space they needed to live comfortably and work towards their dream of homeownership and education. Before moving to their Habitat home, Arcenio’s three daughters shared the bedroom of their small apartment while he and his wife slept on the floor of the living room with their young son. Hosting a family event was out of the question in such tight quarters.
“We are very happy and excited that at last we are going to eat turkey in our own home.”

This year, Arcenio’s children will savor the taste of mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce while creating new memories of their first holiday dinner. Arcenio’s young son may delight in showing relatives his new bedroom and the family will be thankful for the home where many more milestones will be celebrated in the years ahead.

The most special gift this Christmas for Marjorie will not be what is brightly wrapped in boxes and bows underneath the tree, but the tree itself.

When Marjorie moved to the United States from Honduras 16 years ago, she was always unable to fit a real pine tree into her small apartments. However, this year the Christmas tree she will buy from a farm in Half Moon Bay will not only symbolize a new home but a healthy living for her family.

“It will remind me of back in Honduras when we had a real Christmas tree,” she says. “Now I have the space and will get to enjoy the smell.”

Marjorie recently acquired a home in Menlo Park with a zero-interest mortgage and no down payment as part of Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco’s affordable housing program for local working families. She became eligible for the home following an extensive selection process, 500 hours of “sweat equity” on the constructions site, and after completing Habitat’s homeownership training program.

Before moving into her home, Marjorie, a single mother, lived in a one bedroom apartment in San Mateo with her son and mother. While studying to receive a masters degree in early childhood special education from San Jose State University and working full-time as a social worker, her only private space at the end of the day was a long soak in the bathtub. Now she has a room of her own in the three-bedroom home and is able to relax in privacy. “In the end it is just nice to have the time and space to reflect on the day,” she said.

Marjorie also for the first time has the space to entertain friends and family for the holidays. She will be cooking up a traditional Honduran feast of tamales with banana leaves and paella with chicken, ham and turkey. She also will decorate her tree with traditional bulbs and lights, as well as the special touch of a Honduran nativity scene.

“I feel very blessed that I have the opportunity to become closer to the people that I love.” she says.

Marjorie’s home was made possible through Habitat’s foreclosure recovery effort — the Neighborhood Revitalization Program — helping to stabilize communities that have been hard-hit by the housing crisis. Under the program, which receives support from the city of Menlo Park, local banks, churches and private donors, Habitat Greater San Francisco purchases and renovates foreclosed homes, creating new affordable homeownership opportunities for local families.

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In Butch Is a Noun, S. Bear Bergman whittles down the often convoluted issues of gender identity through personal observations about gendered cultural norms like which bathroom and what clothing one chooses, and argues against the gender binary from the positive perspective of love and acceptance.

What were you trying to convey in your first chapter, “I Know What Butch Is”?

I really wanted to make the point that there is no one true way to be butch. I think that often butches get shamed or critiqued or disregarded because of some other person’s statement that they’re “not doing it right.” I’m saying: Listen, pay attention to good role models and then do it how it comes naturally to you.

What is it about gender that makes everyone so hardheaded?

It’s about how we live in the world every day, and it piles onto everyone, no matter where else they are privileged or disempowered. It grabs hold of us when we’re tiny—pink and blue blankets, dolls and trucks—and refuses to let us go. The culture never stops trying to police it.

Why are bathroom politics so important to examine?

Bathrooms are one of the places in public where you have to make an unequivocal statement about your sex. Many trans folks point to the first times they passed in “the other bathroom” as great moments of triumph in their gendered journeys.

Why do you translate transgender literally?

I translate it literally in the book because I want to make a point—that transgender is not about “the opposite gender.” There is no “opposite gender,” just some others. So I want to say, specifically, clearly, that being transgendered is about crossing—crossing out of boxes.