'Something we could call ours'

Longtime Moses Lake resident moves into first home

MOSES LAKE - Elvia Lopez is most looking forward to her kitchen and living room.

She loves to cook and she anticipates being in the living room with her own family.

The Hayden Giving Fund gave Lopez her own home, located on Florida Drive in Moses Lake, in a celebration Tuesday morning.

It was the second home in Moses Lake given by the non-profit organization, and the 18th given overall, Hayden Watson, chairman of the board for the giving fund, told the audience clustered inside Lopez's new home for a ceremony recognizing the entities who contributed to the occasion.

"It makes it extra great when we get an opportunity to give back to the community, and that's really what today is all about," Watson said. "The mission of the giving fund is to create affordable housing opportunities in the communities we build."

Hayden Homes, the builder, builds a lot of houses in Oregon and Washington, Watson said, and many people wish to buy a house but are unable to afford to do so, due to income limitations, credit issues, down payment concerns or other reasons.

"This program was set up to give people an option to buy a home that might otherwise not be able to buy one," he said.

In Lopez's interview and application, her desire to be an example for her family stood out, Watson added.

"I think today is a great celebration for that," she said. "She's arrived at a nice spot where she's going to be able to afford to buy this new home. We're just really happy to be a part of it, and just want to welcome her to the neighborhood."

Lopez moves into the home with her daughter, son and grandson at the end of the month.

"Mostly I am excited," she said. "I am very happy because the people chose me."

Lopez was one of several candidates chosen by the Grant County Housing Authority to be interviewed by the giving fund.

Grant County Housing Authority Occupancy Coordinator Estella Garcia said Lopez had been renting from the authority for about eight years.

"It's really exciting for her to get this," Garcia said. "Now she's in a better way. It's going to be her home now and she can depend on it."

Lopez's daughter Perla Madrigales said the requirements included an essay on how the house would help, which she helped Lopez write.

"She just gave me a lot of information and I just put everything together and I wrote it down for her," Madrigales said. "She had to go on an interview, they asked her a lot of questions and they picked her out of the four families."

Lopez's response was that she was excited to get the house because she had been trying for one, and now she can give an example that more than one typical group is capable of owning a home, Madrigales translated for her mother.

"A lot of people from different races can get houses, too," Madrigales translated for Lopez. "This is something she'd been wanting to do since she moved to the United States. She always wanted to own her house, and now she's got the opportunity, that's what she's doing."

Lopez has lived in the United States for 16 years, and Moses Lake for nine years. During the other seven years, she lived in Odessa and Oregon.

Lopez said she hopes other people apply. Madrigales translated that owning a house is a step further into one's life, and urged other people to apply as well.

"One day, they're going to eventually own their own house," she translated. "Just try, don't give up. If you have a goal in your life and you want to reach it, just to keep trying. You know that one day you're going to get to it."

Madrigales said she feels wonderful to see her mother achieve this longtime goal.

"My mom has been looking at other houses and prices were just sky-high," she said. "We've been just renting everywhere, you know. Yeah, it's low-price rent, but we wanted something we could own, something we could call ours."