Michelle Delgado had long wanted to own a home. Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity helped her find a path to buying one.
The organization showcased five affordable homes under construction Wednesday in St. Paul’s Greater East Side. Called “The Heights,” the project is Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity’s largest affordable housing project in Minnesota. The organization plans to build 147 homes on the 112-acre former Hillcrest Golf Course.
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity is building the new homes in partnership with the Pope Leo Village Movement, a multi-state organization that has funded affordable housing projects across the U.S.
Delgado won’t live in The Heights, but she moved into a home in Minneapolis through Twin Cities Habitat in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was a speaker at the event and a volunteer.
“I did not have a hand in building my home, so to be able to do that for someone else is exactly how I like to be in terms of giving back,” she said. “I know what it's like to not have heat or hot water. I know what it's like to have to go to the food pantry a lot, and so being on the other side, anything I can do to give back and make someone's life a little better is wonderful.”
Delgado, who is of Puerto Rican descent, said it matters to know organizations like Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity are available to help her, her friends and other people of color. Without the organization’s help, she said her monthly mortgage would be double.
“Knowing that there was something woven into the fabric of the beginnings of this country to limit who can have a home is incredibly daunting,” she said. “On the flip side, working with an organization that is fighting that and providing the opportunity for affordable home ownership is something we should all strive as Americans.”
Around 15 volunteers from St. Catherine’s University volunteered for Habitat’s Women Build Program. University President Marcheta P. Evans was a speaker and volunteer at the event and said, “It was beyond a nice feeling” to give back to the community.
Evans was one of many to put up the first wall, but she said it wasn’t the first one she put up. She helped build her own home with her grandfather when she was a kid.
“I grew up in an environment that I was poor, but didn't really realize I was poor at the time,” Marcheta said. “We had mayonnaise and ketchup sandwiches because we didn't have bologna to put it in the middle of it. And now, being able to be a university president and to come and to give back from this, from my experience of where I came from, it makes me feel as if I'm at the right place at the right time doing the work that I should be doing.”
Twin Cities Habitat President Chris Coleman said two years ago The Heights was “just an empty field.”
“But now we actually have families moving in,” he said. “We have almost 20 families that call this neighborhood home, and we're continuing. We have 74 units under either completed or under construction as we speak.”
Coleman said the organization works to make sure homes are affordable to families by making sure “the mortgage is no more than 30 percent of household income.” He added that almost 20 people have moved into the neighborhood, with 74 units ready to go or under construction.
The development is expected to be completed next year, according to Coleman. You can find more information on the housing process through the organization’s website.
