The redeveloped home in question. Looks pretty good!
RSG helped the City of Lake Forest acquire and relocate tenants from a dilapidated four-plex. The City purchased the property, which was occupied by low income families that were primarily Hispanic, to redevelop it into affordable housing.
Here’s the kitchen!
RSG was tasked with finding new homes for the tenants, because the property was in need of substantial renovation. We successfully relocated all of the tenants — two found rentals, one purchased a mobile home, and one moved back into the project.
Ruben Gonzalez and his family, who moved back into the project, have a beautiful story. They have lived there over 20 years, and most of their children were brought home from the hospital to this project. Gonzalez was happy to find a place he and his wife could afford as the family grew, but then things got tougher.
Here’s Ruben, taking in the new look of his family’s home.
Their youngest daughter, Alexa, who has Down syndrome and other health issues, wasn’t expected to last more than 30 minutes after birth. She requires special care and schooling near the project, so the idea of moving and disrupting their lives was very hard on them. RSG helped them every step of the way and helped make it possible for them to relocate temporarily from the site during rehab and back when it was done.
An emotional Gonzalez related that, “We are family. That’s the most important thing. We’re happy to be back for the holidays.”
I feel honored to have worked on this and proud of our firm. It is great to see a project completed from start to finish. And it was beautiful to see this family so happy seeing their new old home for the first time!
Written by Tara Matthews, a Principal at RSG