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Photograph by Chad Pilster
Sweat Equity: Christina Viveros (left), 15, and her sister Michelle, 18, dig out holes for the fencing to be constructed around their new Campbell home.
Building Hope
Habitat for Humanity helps two local families lay the foundations for a brand-new life
By Genevieve Roja
No other nonprofit organization embodies the phrase "It takes a village" more earnestly than Habitat for Humanity International. Since 1986, its regional affiliate, Silicon Valley Habitat for Humanity, has built 17 homes in Santa Clara County. In July, Habitat broke ground for two more four-bedroom, two-bath houses on Grant Street in Campbell for the families of Manuel Viveros and Theresa Jackson.
Viveros and Jackson, finalists for the Campbell homes, were notified as winners after a string of home visits from Habitat staff. Applicants interested in owning a Habitat home attend a meeting to hear information about the history of the organization, how families can qualify for a home, and details about the selection process. Once an application is processed, Silicon Valley Habitat conducts a visit to the applicant's home.
For Viveros, the opportunity to own a Habitat house was almost thrown away with the trash. Last April, Viveros was working at his assistant manager position at Campbell Plaza Safeway, his place of employment for 16 years, when he saw a flier about a seminar. The piece of paper, already primed for crumpling, mentioned something about houses and Silicon Valley Habitat.
"I was reluctant to go," Viveros says. "I've been to seminars and you always expect something else. But I said, 'I have nothing to lose.' At that time, I was really desperate to find a solution about the way we live."
Manuel Viveros' modest Campbell apartment is a testament to his life passions. The hallway is lined with photographs of his five daughters, highlighting births, a quinceañera (a 15th birthday celebration common in Latino cultures), and some laughing candids of the girls over the years. In the kitchen/dining area are painted portraits of his two grandmothers, a scene from the Mexican town where he grew up, a picture of a toucan, and a man whose head is surrounded by a school of tropical fish.
Against the dining room walls are tall, cream-colored cubes displaying Viveros' bronze sculptures.
"This one won first place at Triton [Museum]," Viveros says, clutching a standing bronze figure with a protruding heart. Behind it is a small figure cowering in a fetal position. On its back is a screaming face. "It's called 'Entrapment,'" says Viveros. "It represents life on the edge of going up or down. The heart represents loneliness and desperation. Obviously this was before Habitat."
For the last six years, Viveros, 42, has shared a cramped bedroom and a bunk bed with 11-year-old Melissa. The room also doubles as an art studio and home office for his nonprofit organization, Casa de Cultura Mexica, where he teaches pre-Columbian art and Latino culture to underprivileged children. In the room next door, Michelle, 18, Monique, 16, Christina, 15, and Stephanie, 8, share two bunk beds, clothes and their love of boy band 98 Degrees.
Viveros is a single father on the go. On this particular day, Viveros is eyeing the chicken mole, a Mexican specialty and dinner for tonight. In a few minutes he'll make a full sweep of the South Bay with daughter Melissa, whom he took to the dentist earlier that morning. At 1:30 p.m., he'll pick up Stephanie, a third-grader at Capri School. Then he'll head over to Westmont High School, where Monique and Christina will be waiting. The last stop is for Michelle, who just began her freshman year at West Valley College in Saratoga.
From 3 p.m. to midnight, Viveros will work his Safeway shift, then dash home to be with the girls. The next morning, after dropping off the girls at school, he'll punch in a few hours of work at the Campbell Habitat site.
"A lot of people ask me, 'How do you do it?'" says Viveros, who grew up in the city of Jalapa in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. "I just do it. I take it one day at a time, but the whole day is just hectic."
"We feel extremely fortunate," says Viveros, who holds a bachelor's degree in graphic arts from the University of Mexico. "The people at Habitat ... [what they do is] too human, so nice, so noble, so beautiful. Our spirits are high. To have the kids in our own house; it's exciting for us. I feel I betrayed them when I got divorced. Getting the house is like giving them something back. It's a pretty nice feeling."
Photograph by Chad Pilster
Home Work: Theresa Jackson carries lumber for the construction of her family's future home on Grant Street.
I can tell Theresa Jackson has had a long day. At around 10 p.m., the single mother of Jenna, 11, Moriah, 5, and Anna, 4, is still dressed in her work wear: a white blouse, black blazer and slacks.
"Come on in," she says at the door. "I'm in the middle of making peanut butter sandwiches for the girls' lunch tomorrow."
Jackson's venture into Habitat began at the urging of a co-worker at the CPA firm where Jackson, 29, works. Together, they listened to Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller, who was the guest speaker at a prayer breakfast in downtown San Jose. Immediately following the speech, Jackson sprang into action, calling Silicon Valley Habitat and inquiring when a new house was being built. No land, no house, call again, was their reply. Months later came the news that there was land in Campbell. Finally, she thought: a way out.
"Everybody has a dream of having a home," Jackson says of her interest in Habitat. Her children's well-being was the motivating factor for a preliminary search of affordable housing before landing Habitat. "This neighborhood we live in [an apartment complex in South San Jose] is considered a crime zone. We have a little police station staked out, a private undercover station across the way."
"It's just not a real great place to raise kids," Jackson says of the neighborhood where she's lived for four years. "I wanted something safe and secure for the kids, where they could get a good, well-rounded upbringing. I wanted a home for them. Habitat kind of gave me an opportunity to be in a neighborhood that was safe and giving me a home that we could afford."
It's been a trying road to recovery for the Jackson family. In October 1995, Jackson, who was raised in Seaside and attended Monterey High School, suddenly lost her husband and the father of her three children to heart failure. At the time of Larry's death, Jackson had moved from Seaside to San Jose, to be closer to San Jose State, where she was a student. Larry had worked in construction to support the family, as did Jackson, who worked part time at Accountemps while at San Jose State.
"After he passed away, I kind of didn't want to go back, because of the memories, and everyone we knew was down there," Jackson says. "So I decided to stay here and that actually was a good thing."
After graduating from San Jose State with a degree in accounting in 1996, Jackson worked for the Internal Revenue Service and then moved to the CPA firm where she's been for 21Ž2 years. She and the girls are doing better now, says Jackson, who also attributes their survival to their faith in God.
"It's hard not having a father in their lives," she says. "Anna never knew him. Moriah was a daddy's girl, so it's been very hard for her. Jenna takes it in stride; she's doing OK."
It seems all of them are starting from scratch. Through a special waiver, Moriah and Jenna have started a new school year at Forest Hill and Campbell Middle School, respectively. Anna, the youngest, attends Willow Vale Christian Children's Center in San Jose.
"We're ecstatic [about the house]," Jackson says. "I'm very excited. I work two blocks from the house. Jenna walks from Campbell Middle to my job to the library and she sees the changes. She's seen the wood and now the concrete. It's exciting to see the process."
Jackson and Viveros must perform 500 hours of "sweat equity" during the period of construction, either on weekdays or on weekends. Money and construction materials are often donated by outside organizations, churches, corporations or private individuals. A large part of the construction is also done by volunteers. Once construction is completed, the homes--slated for completion in February--are sold by Silicon Valley Habitat at cost to the families. Viveros and Jackson will make interest-free monthly mortgage payments of $300-$500 to Silicon Valley Habitat for over 30 years. These payments are used by Silicon Valley Habitat to finance future homes for other low-income families.
Moriah can't wait for a new puppy, says Jackson, who adds that their current apartment doesn't allow pets. What kind of puppy does she want?
"Dog," Moriah says.
"Anna wants a cat," Jackson says.
"And a bird!" says Moriah, jumping up and down in her gray sleeper. "And fish!"
For information about volunteering at the Silicon Valley Habitat for Humanity construction site in Campbell, call 408.294.6464.
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Campbell, California
