After 7 years of living in the same cramped duplex apartment, Margarita and Alfonso Chavez decided to take a leap of faith and became homeowners. Something they never thought possible!
A hairdresser by trade, Margarita works at a small hair salon on Milwaukee’s Southside. She noticed a man coming to talk to her boss, about some kind of home improvement project. This man kept mentioning to Margarita that her and her family would be perfect candidates for the homebuyer program at Acts. Turns out, the man was Ramon Guadarrama, our Sr. Rehab Counselor.
After 8 months of encouragement, Margarita and her husband attended orientation to see if the program indeed, could help them buy their own home. They were still doubtful they could qualify and thought it could be too good to be true, “We had been rejected by so many banks, I really thought this might just be a scam” said Margarita.
After closing on their new home, they dove right into the rehab project. Everyone in the family helped out, including their 3 children every day after school and on the weekends. The little ones helped take out trash and sweep. While the oldest helped her dad paint and grout the bathroom tile. It was definitely a family affair!
The rent at their duplex was consistently going up every 6 months. When they entered the program they were paying $825 in rent for a 2-bedroom apartment. Now they are paying $420, saving over $400 a month! Since becoming homeowners, 2 more hairdressers from the salon have entered the program and hope to be in their homes within the next few months.
The children’s favorite room is the basement rec room. Christopher, age 7, says “…it’s like a living room for kids. We can just play and not worry about anything. We’ve never had a living room for just us. I feel so happy.”
