Santa Ana is home to two struggling populations: families who cannot afford to buy homes and young people, who with little education or training, often get swept up by gangs and crime.
But in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, municipal officials and local nonprofit organizations are preparing to fight both problems at once.
Starting this fall, a crew of young people who have pledged to turn their lives around will build three houses intended for first-time buyers in the Logan community, a working-class neighborhood that police say has been claimed for generations by a gang.
Together, the group of former gang members, high school dropouts, recovering drug users and recent parolees will construct the bungalow-style three- and four-bedroom houses. The residences will be sold through a lottery for below-market prices -- as little as $160,000 -- aimed at low-income first-time home buyers. Preference will be given to families who live or work in Santa Ana.
Organizers said the yearlong project will provide the workers with vital job experience by having them build homes from the ground up. And when they are finished, three low-income families will move into homes they can afford.
This month, the city approved a $1.5-million agreement with the Orange County Community Housing Corp., a nonprofit organization that advocates for low-income housing. That group is contracting with Hope Builders, a construction company founded by Taller San Jose, a Santa Ana Catholic nonprofit that trains troubled youth in the fundamentals of construction and carpentry.
The three homes will be the firm's first major construction project.
"Many of our members carry shame for a destructive past," said Shawna Smith, executive director of Taller San Jose. "Now, it's about building."
The group has selected a crew of six graduates from its 16-week construction training program to carry out the work. They expect to break ground in October.
Frank Banda, 20, a former Santa Ana gang member who was hired for the project, said that being on a construction crew full of people trying to change their lives offers a camaraderie that transcends neighborhood loyalties.
"We're able to work with people who once were enemies and people who you would never think you would get along with," he said.
"It's more important than just building a house," he said. "This is a chance to give back to the community. To go home and feel that you made it possible for a family to live and grow and be happy."
