By SARAH STEFFEN /FOR KHTS

Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys received the final green light from Santa Clarita City Council members Tuesday night to build its 87-home Habitat “Enriched” Neighborhood for veterans and their families.

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This comes as great news not only to Habitat for Humanity but for the five local veteran families who are already pre-approved to move into this community and 20 in process.

At the Tuesday meeting, Santa Clarita City Council made final approvals to change the zoning for the property where Habitat for Humanity, in collaboration with the California Department of Veteran Affairs, will be building the affordable veteran-specific community, known as “SCV Habitat for Heroes.”

One of the future homeowners pre-approved for this community is army-veteran, Joshua Towe.

He and his wife, Denise, live with their three boys, all under the age of five, in her parents’ 1200-square-foot home. The family is excited to have the opportunity to own their own home, but they are most excited to be living in a community for which all of its members have gone through similar experiences.

“We applied to the Habitat program because we love the idea of living in a community of veterans,” said Towe. “We would love to have neighbors that we can eventually consider family.”

One of those neighbors could potentially be Dee Nance, a Navy Veteran also pre-approved for the community. She currently lives in an older mobile home in Canyon Country and works at Henry Mayo Hospital.

This veteran community will not only be an affordable homebuyer program, but Habitat for Humanity will also connect these families to local organizations and social services that can teach them skills to move into the middle class. Habitat for Humanity SF/SCV calls this the “enrichment” model.

Services in the program include connecting families with other organizations, social services and nonprofits who provide: financial literacy workshops, health education and screenings, homework help for the children, computer training, PTSD counseling, and veteran-specific services.

If you are a veteran or family of the fallen and would like to learn more about qualifying for these three- and four-bedroom homes on Centre Pointe Parkway in Santa Clarita, please contact Habitat for Humanity SF/SCV at (818) 884-8808 or go online to www.HumanityCa.org.

About Habitat for Humanity SF/SCV

Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys (SF/SCV) was founded in 1990 as an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI). They are a locally run, independent, 501(c)3 non-profit organization serving  North Los Angeles City and County, building houses for low-income working and veteran families.

To date, they have built, rebuilt or repaired over 220 homes and are among the top 5% of Habitat affiliates  nationwide.

Habitat for Humanity SF/SCV will be building 100 new homes for veterans in two “enriched” neighborhoods over the next few years in collaboration with the California Department of Veteran Affairs.

These will be 87 three- and four-bedroom homes on Centre Pointe in Santa Clarita and 12 four-bedroom homes in Sylmar on Foothill Boulevard.

These homes will answer not only local affordable housing needs for low-income veterans, but Habitat will also provide what they call “Enrichment” Services to their families before and after move in to teach these important life skills. Services in the program include connecting families with other organizations, social services and nonprofits who provide: financial literacy workshops, health education and screenings, homework help for the children, computer training, PTSD counseling, and veteran-specific services.

Habitat for Humanity SF/SCV is still collecting applications for this low-income veteran-specific community and their other 12-home veteran community being built in Sylmar.

To apply for one of these homes visit www.HumanityCA.org or call (818) 884-8808.

The Southern California Gas Company and KHTS AM-1220 radio have been leading a team of Santa Clarita community leaders during the past two years to assist in bringing this vision into reality. Their leadership along with partnerships Habitat has created with many of Santa Clarita’s major non-profit organizations xwill provide veterans with an entire array of services along with a new home. Plans are now being made for a ground-breaking ceremony in the next few months. A ribbon cutting ceremony took place on the property last October.

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