Photo courtesy of People’s Self-Help Housing (PSHH).
Mission Gardens II to bring 14 new self-help homes to SLO County
CENTRAL COAST — At Mission Gardens II, a group of 14 owner-builders have begun building their own homes through the People’s Self-Help Housing (PSHH) mutual self-help program.
Located in San Miguel, San Luis Obispo County, this new development is seeing the future homeowners construct 14 single-story homes located at the end of N Street. Each home is set to have three or four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a two-car garage. They will also be equipped with energy-efficient features, PV solar, and drought-tolerant landscaping.
The PSHH homeownership team works alongside the owner-builders to guide them throughout the process. Contributing 32+ hours of labor per week per household over a 12-13 month period, the group will be investing over 1,600 hours of work at the construction site under professional supervision. This effort, ‘sweat-equity’, is used in lieu of a down payment. With the additional help of a USDA-subsidized mortgage making the homes even more affordable, this is a cost effective on-ramp to homeownership.
“This program has been the sustained heartbeat of our organization since its founding in 1970,” said Veronica Garcia, Chief Real Estate Development Officer at PSHH. “We are thrilled to build a new neighborhood in San Luis Obispo County and to provide more opportunities for people to achieve the wealth-building benefits of homeownership and the stability that brings.”
Taking part in this season’s build is Adriana Granados, who shared a bit about what it feels like to have this opportunity.
“We all know the critical need for affordable housing. People’s Self-Help Housing has turned a dream of becoming a homeowner into reality,” said Granados. “I am so excited to be beginning the construction of my own affordable residence. All homeowners help build each other’s homes, strengthening our community and neighbors-to-be and it cannot get better than that. This is truly a dream come true for many of us, especially myself.”
Qualifications for the program included meeting certain residency and financial thresholds and ability to meet the sweat equity requirements. Mission Gardens II is tentatively scheduled for completion by fall of 2027.
To learn more, visit pshhc.org/build-your-own-home.
About People’s Self-Help Housing (PSHH)
Founded in 1970, PSHH is the longest-serving nonprofit affordable housing organization on the Central Coast. With a mission of building homes and providing services to strengthen communities and change lives, PSHH serves low-income households, families, seniors, veterans, farmworkers, those living with disabilities and the formerly homeless. It also provides homeownership opportunities through a self-help “sweat equity” program that has seen over 1,200 homes successfully completed. PSHH has a presence in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Monterey counties, manages over 2,400 rental units, and employs over 250 team members. For more information about the organization, visit pshhc.org.
PSHH acknowledges the Indigenous Peoples and unceded territories that our organization now occupies. We recognize the YTT Northern Chumash, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash, Barbeño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians, Cruzeño Chumash, and Salinan elders, current and future generations as the protectors of these lands. To read the full land acknowledgement, visit pshhc.org/IDEA.