For nearly a year, a home renovation on San Benito Street has served as a classroom for Center for Employment Training students to learn the construction trade.
The home renovation was a collaboration between the nonprofit Community Housing Improvement System and Planning Association, the City of Hollister, Center for Employment Training (based in Gilroy) and many local subcontractors who offered their time to teach the students every aspect of homebuilding.
Now that it is complete, it will be sold as an affordable home to a local qualifying individual or family who will receive downpayment assistance from the city, according to Christopher Valenzuela, the housing program coordinator for the county.
While it is the first project of its kind in Hollister, CHISPA had coordinated a similar program with Salinas and Hartnell Community College students. Gabriel Torres, a project manager with CHISPA, said the hope is that the home on San Benito Street will be the first of many to come in the Housing Collaborative Program.
The house on San Benito Street north of Richardson Drive had been in dire disrepair when the students started on the project.
Torres explained some of how the property ended up in the hands of the city. Originally, the homeowners had been given a loan from the city to renovate the foundation of the home and complete some weatherization upgrades. Torres was not sure of the details, but he said the homeowners could not stay in or care for the home so other family members moved into the property. They began stockpiling trash in the yard and racking up code enforcement violations. The tenants eventually walked away from the property and city officials were able to take possession of the home because of the note against it from the renovation loan.
“It sat boarded up for many years,” Torres said. “Then we approached them with this idea.”
In Salinas, the collaboration built single-family homes from the ground up on vacant lots. But after six years, Torres said they ran out of spots to build. So he turned to Hollister and Gilroy’s CET. Torres said the employment training program was excited about having a project in Hollister as half the students come from Hollister to Gilroy for job training.
Throughout the year’s project, the students cleaned up all the debris from the yard, removed overgrown trees and gutted the house down to its studs. Then they started to rebuild the house.
“Typically we had 20 students and they would work in teams of two to three,” Torres said.
Local contractors or subcontractors oversaw all the work the students did. For much of the work, the students started with safety training and lessons on how to comply with city, county or state regulations. From there, they got hands-on training with plumbing, framing, roofing, and heating and cooling systems.
The interior of the home was remodeled to give it more usable space, with a master bathroom expanded and a second full bathroom added to the home, which Torres described as having “half a bathroom.” They got more space on the first level of the home by moving a furnace and water heater into the attic.
The project also focused on using green building technologies such as recycled insulation materials, energy-efficient lights and well-insulated windows.
Throughout the year, the students interacted with city code enforcement officials and manufacturers who taught them about different aspects of homebuilding.
“Everything was a classroom,” Torres said.
Valenzuela said they were already working with a potential buyer and would be offering tours of the home in the coming days.
“Proceeds of the purchase will hopefully go to purchase another property for the Housing Collaboration Program,” Torres said.
