Written by Nikolas Samuels, The Santa Clarita Valley Signal
Habitat for Humanity in partnership with CalVet held a ceremony to give keys to 28 Veterans and their families on Saturday.
Over 6,000 volunteers from the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, some of which were the Veterans themselves, gave time over the past two years to construct the neighborhood.
“It just makes me so happy,” said Fernando Sanchez, who will move into the neighborhood with his family by November. “(We) finally have our own home.”
Sanchez served in the Marine Corps for four years and is unable to work after becoming disabled in a motorcycle accident. He said he never would have been able to own his own home if Habitat for Humanity did not help provide him with one.
Sanchez is also looking forward to being in a community made up entirely of Veterans.
“(My son) is going to get to know all the Veterans’ children,” he said.
Norman Ruanno and his family are also moving in. He shares the same sentiment about being with people who have been exposed to similar experiences in the military.
“It is going to be the end of one of the toughest times in my life trying to blend in the civilian sector,” he said.
Over 400 people attended the ceremony which took place in the neighborhood the Veterans are moving into.
The neighborhood, located on Centre Pointe Parkway next to Bowman High School, is made up of 78 homes, which have been built in three phases. Saturday’s ceremony celebrated the completion of the second phase, consisting of 28 homes. The third phase is expected to be completed in 2017, while the first phase was completed in September of 2015.
The land was donated by the city of Santa Clarita.
The program, put on by the Santa Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys branch of Habitat for Humanity, was helped by the California Department of Veteran Affairs (CalVet), which loaned more than $12 million to veterans and their families to make the neighborhood possible.
Fifteen families will move in Oct. 1, and the rest will move in on Nov. 1.
“They will all be home for Thanksgiving,” said Donna Deutchman, Chief Executive Officer of Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys.
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