As many people in the community development corporation (CDC) know, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) is an Arizona-based CDC that has been providing integrated group programs and services in economic development, education, health and human services, and housing since 1969. On January 8, 2015, one of CPLC’s housing sites, the Nueva Villas at Beverly, had a very well-known figure come to visit. This person was the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama. To make this day even more memorable for CPLC and the Phoenix community, on December 30, 2015, the Huffington Post published a story on some of the best White House photographs from 2015. One of the pictures that appeared in the best White House photographs of 2015 was of President Obama greeting an emotional resident of the Nueva Villas at Beverly holding her child.
The reason for President Obama’s visit, was a speech he planned on giving at a local high school, so he could announce that the fees that are charged by the FHA for loans are going to be lowered and could save families that would purchase a home through the FHA could save upwards of $900 per year. However, before President Obama went to give his speech at the local high school, he decided to take CPLC up on an offer to come visit the Nueva Villas at Beverly. President Obama did not give CPLC or the community of Nueva Villas at Beverly much notice, as they were informed only 15 minutes prior to his arrival that he was on his way. However, even with the short notice, the president took his time to meet every single worker and member of the community that day. The picture that made the article in the Huffington Post was an example of President Obama walking across the street and saying hello to a single mother and her young child. This was just one of many amazing photographs that were captured on that day.
As previously mentioned, the project that President Obama visited was the Nuevas Villas at Beverly, which was a foreclosed development that was previously owned by another non-profit organization. CPLC was able to purchase this development with the help of a $137 million grant, an amount that became the largest award that any Latino organization had ever received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As part of a consortium with NALCAB (National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders), CPLC, the largest grantee, was able to show HUD and the rest of the United States that you can put investment of grant dollars into the communities that were most affected by the housing crisis, and come out successful.
The Nueva Villas at Beverly was a foreclosed development with 25 homes already built on a 50 home lot when CPLC purchased it. At the time of the purchase, the community looked like it was in a war-torn country, with trees in the middle of the road and homeless individuals taking claim to the unused land. However, when CPLC came into ownership of the property, they revitalized the community and reenergized the owners of the houses of the previously built houses. The program is designed to help low to moderate income buyers with up to 120% of the average median income in designated census tracts most affected by the foreclosure crisis. This allows people who most likely could never afford a brand new home to fulfill one of their lifelong dreams.
Other pictures include Vice President Joe Biden congratulating President Obama after hearing the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act on June 25, 2015, President Obama having a conversation with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, and President Obama hugging Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) after his introduction during the event to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 2015.