Javier Gallardo’s family bought a new doublewide with a forgivable loan. The two parents and eight children had been living in a one-room singlewide. He says the loan program changed his life. Riverside County, California, realized that systematic change was needed for manufactured housing to keep providing shelter to much of the region’s workforce. They decided to launch a program that works with residents and park owners, in which residents can receive loans to purchase their homes. Daughter Liduvina, right, stays cool in the back yard of her new home in Thermal, where temperatures exceed 100 degrees more than 100 days per year. The situation is not perfect. The park still has dirt roads and is far from luxurious, but new manufactured housing has made a difference in the family’s life.
Javier finishes a day of working
in the fields with his son Alex. By accommodating the desire among farm workers to live in wide open spaces, the Riverside County plan honors cultural preferences. “Last time we went back (to our old home) we were like, ‘How were we living in these conditions?’” says Alex. “We didn’t have air conditioning. We had a cooler, ice. It was hot, like 120 and 125, sometimes it goes up to 130. We had no door. We had some times when it was windy—a sandstorm—and a lot of sand would come in the house because the windows were broken…. Now we are okay.”
Taft Bulletin Spring 2008
31