HOW IT WORKS

Take a look into the process of building a home with Esperanza! From the communities and families with whom we work, to the volunteers who work alongside in solidarity. To learn about how we work:

Click and interact with each section below!

Community Need

Esperanza provides social development which assists in forming and supporting a local community organization so that members participate in the solutions to their own problems. The goal of the program is participation and initiative in the community. In other words, when help comes to the community from the outside it is because the community previously prepared and organized itself before asking for help.

Autoconstrucción

Self-Help

The principal objective is community development through self-help housing projects in the neighborhoods. The main characteristic of these projects is community involvement. Families participate in the decision-making, direction, and administration of loan funds as well as in the physical work for their home construction. The housing self-help projects are supported through a program called Fondo de Ahorro para Vivienda (FAV) (Housing Savings Fund). Families participate alongside volunteers through sweat equity on their home and their neighbor's homes as well.

Volunteer Purpose

This self help model also requires a particular attitude on the part of persons and organizations that are working in the community. It is necessary that participants engage in a relationship of equals among equals. Volunteers are there to fulfill the role requested by the community-not to take over or redirect the project. In the past, much of the passive behavior in the communities was reinforced by giving free handouts and the attitudes of organizations coming in from the outside and thinking they had the solution to community problems. This kind of thinking fosters dependency by enabling people not to participate in the solutions to their own problems.

Education

Esperanza has a series of presentations and educational activities that help the communities as well as the volunteer groups to better understand the conditions necessary to be able to work effectively in the communities. They also give a better idea of housing challenges and the social conditions that are generating problems at the border.

Fondo de Ahorro para Vivienda (FAV)
Community "Housing Savings Funds" and how they work

What is FAV?

FAV is a program in which low-income families needing housing, typically from one neighborhood or "colonia", form a neighborhood organization and participate actively in the process of creating solutions to their problems and promotes mutual aid in the construction process. This program incorporates the empowerment of women, the family, and the community, each of whom have the need and desire to obtain decent housing and improve their own quality of life.

Each FAV is accompanied by accountability and transparency. Families entering the program accept a commitment to work in cooperation with the rest of the community to obtain affordable housing for all members of the FAV.

The participating families within each community organize their committees to manage their savings and thus finance their own homes. All participants then attend various workshops and trainings as part of the community development program.

Educational Meetings

Initially, families attend educational meetings held by Esperanza staff in order to understand the terms of participation. There are many families that have the idea that this is a charitable (give-away) program. These educational talks help clarify the self-help aspects of this program (this is not a charitable give-away) in order to avert misunderstandings once the family has joined.

At the meetings the following points are emphasized:

The families must participate in the solutions to their own problems
They must provide their own labor to make the construction materials (blocks)
They must provide their part of the labor to construct the house
They must make weekly payments to the fund to pay back their loan

The selection of families to participate in the program follows a natural course. If people realize they cannot or will not accept one or more of the above conditions, they will withdraw before signing a commitment. The families that stay in the program understand the requirements and are ready to begin to fulfill them.

Pre-Construction

Prior to construction, families meet weekly and each one contributes about 10% of their income to a common fund. Then, one of Esperanza’s community development social workers does a socioeconomic study to make sure that the home loan is never too great a burden on a family. Families must have acquired ownership of the land where they live before building can take place.

View more about the costs of Esperanza homes HERE in our FAQ.

FAV Meetings

Esperanza's social workers offer a series of weekly talks and educational activities that help the communities and especially the women who attend them better understand the conditions necessary to work effectively together in the communities.

Discussions shed light on social conditions that are generating problems at the border and specifically the problems of housing, as well as include constant training on self-esteem, communication, and how to reach agreements.

Community Loans

From the volunteer group program fees and other income sources, Esperanza provides seed capital to the neighborhood FAV committees. In turn, the FAV member applies for a loan to purchase the materials that will go in the construction of the house: cement, sand, gravel, doors, rebar, etc. The family will then repay this loan to the neighborhood committee (not to Esperanza).

In this way, the FAV is renewed and can continue to provide loans as new members join.

Requesting to Build

After saving 10% of the total cost of their future home, usually a 1-2 year period of saving, a family can petition their savings group to build their house. The savings group approves their petition, but if there is insufficient money in the fund for them to cover the cost of materials, then the Fund for Housing group petitions Esperanza. They use some of the funds from group fees to help cover the difference.

Additionally, Esperanza is able to facilitate the use of subsidies from the Mexican government to reduce the cost of the home for some members in the community groups.

Loans

Homes that are subsidized by the Mexican government are typically paid off in 4-5 years while those that are not subsidized are paid off in 10-12 years.

These loans bear no interest, so the funds are not self-sustaining and need to be capitalized. Esperanza purchases and maintains the construction equipment and employs the construction staff and the community development social workers. Esperanza is always in search of grants and other funds to support their work.

Participation

When the home is finished, the family continues their payments on the cost of materials, thereby capitalizing and replenishing the fund seeded by Esperanza with the help of the volunteer groups. Families, or a representative of, are required to participate in the building of other community member’s homes and attend weekly FAV meetings until their own home has been paid off. Participation of volunteer groups makes the cost of the homes more affordable, and fosters our mission of mutual trust between binational communities.

Timeline

A quick overview timeline of a family/participant in a FAV.

1-2 Years

1-2 Months

3-4 months

3-4 years

5-7 Years

Learning about Esperanza

Usually a family first learns about Esperanza through witnessing homes built in their neighborhoods with foreigners, or through family and friends.

Educational Meetings

The person or family attends initial educational meetings, building trust with Esperanza and their community, before making a commitment to build their home with a FAV.

Once Committed

Families go through a period of participation in FAV meetings and making weekly payments to save for their home.

Approval to Build

After enough saving, a family petitions their FAV to build their home, then gets approved.

Block Making

With Esperanza's support, a family makes all the concrete blocks needed to build their home

Construction

Together a family, the community, volunteers, and Esperanza staff will work together to build a family's home from foundation to completion

Paying off the Loan

With a government assisted loan (from CONAVI), a family continues participating in construction of community homes and paying off the loan on their home after it has been built, until they have paid it off. Typically from start to finish, a total savings period of 4-5 years.

Additional Time

Without a government assisted loan, a family continues to save and participate, paying off their loan until it's paid off. Typically a TOTAL savings period from start to end of 10-12 years.

Block Making

Construction

Families will make their own concrete blocks for their future home. Using the Haener Block construction method, the collaboration in production of the blocks strengthens the community. Participating in this manner, the family feels a strong appreciation for what they are building; for their physical and mental investment.

Home Building

Along with the necessary machinery and tools, technical advice, planning, and supervision is provided in every step of the construction process. For more about the Esperanza experience and detailed home building process:

Click Here

The Process in Pictures

From FAV meetings and block making, to volunteers arriving and working together, to breaking ground, building walls, and pouring the roof, to completing the house, thanking the community, and buying furniture! And don't forget to take a break and enjoy good food in between!

Profile of a Family

With Whom We Work

Historically

Historically, some Esperanza families migrated from the southern part of Mexico to find work at the border and then came to Tijuana to cross into the US but had not been able to make the crossing or returned to Tijuana after an unsuccessful venture in the US. Asentamientos populares (unplanned neighborhoods) sprung up on the outskirts of Tijuana as the population changed. Many of these families were supported by one wage-earner, working in the maquiladoras (factories along the border) and earned an average of $80 - $90 US dollars per week. This income was not enough to provide basic necessities for a family in Tijuana.

Today

Today, most of the families in the FAVs are supported by multiple income earners, and often each work multiple jobs to provide basic necessities for their families. They often hear about Esperanza through seeing homes built in their own communities, or by a friend or family member in Esperanza’s FAV program. They become interested in participating because it provides a feasible way for a low income family to own their own structurally sound home.

Finances

Low-income families cannot qualify for bank loans or obtain credit to pay for housing in other parts of the city. Most are stuck in the vicious circle that holds them trapped in an irresolvable world of necessities - health, education, public services, and quality housing. Some of the small income they receive is used to buy land. At first they may not have title to the property, and must spend more in that process. They also use their income to pay for public services such as electrical hook-up, water, sewage, and telephone (if they are in a neighborhood that has it), and daily needs of the family like food, clothing, medical services, school, and, if they are in the FAV program, weekly savings. There is no doubt that this is a great effort for a low-income family.

Self Empowerment

When families join a community led savings group, they participate in the solution to their own problems. Participants, often female led, feel a sense of control of their future. They build trust in themselves, with their community, and with international volunteers. Participating in this manner, the family feels a sense of empowerment for this investment in themselves.

Profile of a Neighborhood

Where We Work

Population

The population of the Tijuana metropolitan area is estimated at 2.26 million as of 2023. The continual arrival of people to the city of Tijuana (30,000+ persons/ year) produces a huge social problem and has caused the city to grow in an uncontrolled way.

Neighborhoods

More and more families are arriving and need places to live. They start building on land without the basic infrastructure and little by little they are converted into “asentamientos populares” or unplanned neighborhoods. These new settlements do not even have the most basic services such as running water, drainage, electricity, schools, and worst of all, they don’t have acceptable housing because they are started in such precarious conditions.

Infrastructure

Existing houses are usually small, constructed with second-hand materials such as cardboard, pallets, plastic, garage doors, etc. These houses often have only one room, and when there is a bathroom, it is outside. The houses are usually inhabited by three to eight family members. The dimensions of these houses vary, but they are rarely bigger than a single large room in a U.S. house.

Response

The government has tried to respond to the need for land and public services, but it lacks sufficient capacity to resolve the problem, and the result is uncontrolled settlement. In response, many philanthropic groups have been formed. Such groups have offered alternative solutions to help tackle the existing problems. It is in these neighborhoods, with these families, that we work.

Participation of Volunteer Groups

Working Together

Group Preparation

Participation of volunteer groups must be in a spirit of harmony, respect and equality with the families and the Esperanza team with whom they are working. Just as preparation takes place in the community with educational meetings about the program, the savings funds, and the production of many of the construction components, a similar process with the volunteer groups must invest time to raise funds and prepare themselves to come to Tijuana.

Teamwork

Logistically, groups may work on different stages of construction with two or more families of the community. Mutual trust and teamwork is crucial. It is heavy work that requires us to help one another. Here we can learn what it means to be part of a bucket brigade! In real terms, it means using a pick and shovel in a foundation, filling buckets with sand and gravel to make concrete, passing buckets of concrete down a line to pour foundations, fill walls, pour roofs, and more.

Volunteer Spirit

The energy, resources, and good will of the volunteer groups contribute manual labor and economic aid for the construction of a house. All this provides a collective work with the same vision: a program in which everyone participates and makes a dream come true; a program solid enough to provide quality housing with dignity for the families. The participation of volunteer groups must be in this spirit.