Alisia Gonzales-Hankins lives with her daughter and three sons in a house in northeast Portland that they’ve rented for 12 years. Alejandra is 19, Dominique is 15, and her twins, DeMario and DeMarco, are 6. Over the years, their neighborhood has become much more affluent than it was when they first arrived. Rents in the neighborhood have doubled, but Alisia has managed to keep her rent low by not complaining about things that are wrong with the home.

They recently found out that the house has lead-based paint, which the twins have been exposed to. The soil also tested positive for lead, and now they cannot use it for gardening. The bathroom has mold on the ceiling and most of the pipes throughout the home are rusted. Aside from these problems, the house is too small and cramped for the number of people in their family.

“I’m stuck,” Alisia said. “I won’t be able to find anything affordable in this neighborhood anymore, so it’s better to keep my mouth shut and keep a roof over my head.”

After learning about the lead paint problems, Alisia, who works as a medical assistant, decided to explore housing options and applied to Habitat for Humanity.

“It was time for ownership,” Alisia said. “Habitat’s no-interest mortgage and sweat equity program is very, very appealing. I am looking forward to saving money, and I know how lucky I am to have this opportunity.”

Alisia and her family will be one of the first six families to move into Habitat’s Rivergate Commons neighborhood in North Portland. The Campbell Group, a first-time sponsor, has committed to raise the funds needed to build this home.

“I’m excited to move into something that is new and that I can call my own,” Alisia said. “I’m familiar with the area, and I’ve already met a few of my neighbors. It will be nice to live in a close community and be able to garden without fear of lead in your food.”

Although construction on the homes was recently started, a community garden has already been established at Rivergate Commons and is ready to welcome the new homeowners.

What do you want for your birthday? Say you are approaching the big 3-0. You are gainfully employed and have a couple of kids, but you are still living with your parents. In fact, your family of four, your sister and her two children, your brother, and your parents are all living in a 3-bedroom home together. You tried converting the garage into a 4th bedroom, but it is not insulated so too cold for comfort in the winter. Now, what do you want for your 30th birthday?

Carlos Rivas bought a house. His birthday morning started at the title company where he purchased a Willamette West Habitat for Humanity house. Sitting next to him at the table was his sister, Edelmira, who was also purchasing a Willamette West Habitat for Humanity house that day. They drove out to their new homes in Hillsboro and were surprised by the owners of the King City Grocery Outlet who were there to fi ll both kitchens with groceries.

Carlos may have bought a home on his birthday, but the journey to homeownership started much earlier. A cousin who is a Habitat homeowner told him about the program. He and Edelmira attended an orientation session in the fall of 2010 and in October received the life-changing news that they had both been accepted into the program. The homes Carlos and Edelmira purchased were not a hand out; they had to work hard to achieve the American Dream. After they were accepted, they headed out to the construction site and began putting in their sweat equity: 500 hours (per house) of helping Habitat build homes in Washington County before they could buy theirs. The homes eventually sold to the Rivas siblings with a zero-percent interest mortgage were in foreclosure and purchased by Willamette West Habitat for Humanity using Federal stimulus money. They were in deplorable condition and had to be gutted and rebuilt inside from top to bottom.

Before, Carlos paid his parents $600 monthly for rent and utilities; his two boys (aged 2 & 4) spent their entire life sharing a bedroom with their parents. Today, Carlos is a homeowner with a monthly mortgage payment of $623 for his 3-bedroom home. Edelmira, who was paying $550 per month, is now paying $415 per month for her mortgage, and her two children have their own rooms. In addition, the two homes, which were once foreclosed and vacant, will generate nearly $4,600 a year in property taxes.

And all the while, while the Willamette West Habitat staff was helping Grocery Outlet and family members put groceries away, and everyone was hugging and crying, you could hear the gleeful shouts of 4-year-old Seyline in the background as she ran through her house and up and down her stairs, shouting “THIS IS MY HOUSE…THIS IS MY BEDROOM…THIS IS MY HOUSE…THIS IS MY BEDROOM” at the top of her little voice. When it suddenly struck her that she would no longer have to share a bedroom with her mother, she told her “if you get lonely or scared at night mommy, you can come sleep with me.”

When asked how he would ever top his 30th birthday, Carlos replied that he never could. “I can’t believe I own my own home, it’s a dream come true.”