Solano affordable housing partnership takes shape

Some things just work better together. Peanut butter and jelly. Batman and Robin. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

And now, Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity and Pacific Gas and Electric.

The two organizations kicked off a new partnership centered around affordable homeownership with a volunteer build day event in Fairfield on Thursday.

"Homeownership is our wheelhouse," said Andrew Killeen, CEO of Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity. "We're giving people who wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to have affordable home ownership, that very opportunity."

The collaboration stems from PG&E's Connecting Hometowns program, which is designed to help Northern and Central California families realize their dreams of homeownership. Solano-Napa is one of five Habitat for Humanity affiliates receiving $50,000 grants as part of the partnership.

"We heard today about who receives these Habitat for Humanity homes, it's a generational, life-changing opportunity for these low-income families," said Greg Wright, a division operations specialist for PG&E.

Killeen said the entirety of the grant will support their upcoming Harmony Village development in Vacaville, which will provide 10 local low-income families with an opportunity to build their homes in partnership with Habitat, and then buy them with affordable financing. The groundbreaking is set for this summer.

"It was part of our memorandum of understanding that it would support one project, and we selected Harmony Village," he said. "$50,000 will probably buy the roof trusses for a couple of duet homes."

Killeen said families will be asked to provide up to 500 hours of "sweat equity" on the homes, which includes assisting in raising the walls, installing cabinets, and painting.

"We found partner families have a lot of pride in ownership because they helped build the house. Not many people can say ‘I built my own home,'" Killeen said. "They also learn some skills, so if there's minor repairs, they can do that too."

Habitat and PG&E volunteers helped raise additional funds for Harmony Village at the build day event, constructing two playhouses and 10 Adirondack chairs that will be sold at the Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity ReStore located in the Cordelia area of Fairfield.

"This is our North Coast effort to power good in our hometowns," Wright said. "We also volunteered today because of the ReStore, which will increase the grant we gave them with the work we've done today."

There were nearly 20 PG&E volunteers on site to help construct the playhouses and chairs, which will be a common sight moving forward as PG&E coworkers will work alongside Habitat teams on job sites as part of the partnership.

"PG&E will be laying the groundwork for the utilities of the new development," said Jessica Smith, a community relations specialist with PG&E. "It will be great to have volunteers out alongside these new homeowners who have to put in their own sweat equity as part of their home purchase."

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