Housing project breaks ground

Fresno neighborhood for low-income families has been in the works for seven years.

By Robert Rodriguez / The Fresno Bee

Future residents and representatives of the Little Long Cheng subdivision shovel dirt at a groundbreaking ceremony Friday in Fresno. Eric Paul Zamora / The Fresno Bee E-mail This Article Printer-Friendly Format Receive the Daily Bulletin Subscribe to Print Join a Forum New:   Search News  | Search Local

Leng Lee looked out over 10 dusty acres of former farmland in southeast Fresno on Friday and dreamed of owning a home.

His dream may be close to becoming a reality, as a coalition of organizations helped break ground on a 41-home affordable housing subdivision on the northwest corner of Jensen and Willow avenues.

Construction is expected to begin in the coming months and be completed by 2007.

"This is my dream," said Lee, a Fresno strawberry farmer. "This is about the future and owning a home for me and my family."

The housing project, known as Little Long Cheng, has been in the works for more than seven years and was initiated by Hmong American Community Inc.

The nonprofit group works to create opportunities for Southeast Asian community members.

"There are so many Hmong people who are unable to buy a home, and we are trying to give them that chance," said Loxing Kiatoukaysi, executive director of Hmong American Community Inc.

Among the project's partners are Self-Help Enterprises, Sequoia Community Health Center, Rural Community Assistance Corp., the city of Fresno, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Wells Fargo and Citibank.

As part of the project, families that qualify must contribute 35 to 40 hours a week toward building their homes. The three- and four-bedroom homes will range from 1,357 square feet to 1,575 square feet. Home prices are expected to remain below $147,500. The homes are targeted to families with an average household income of between $20,000 and $25,000.

Tom Collishaw, vice president of Self-Help Enterprises, said that while he hopes to qualify many Hmong families, the project is open to anyone who meets the guidelines.

"We expect this to be a multi-cultural neighborhood," he said.

The project is being financed, in part, by $1.2 million in HUD funds, administered through the city of Fresno. And the nonprofit Rural Community Assistance also has contributed $1 million in construction financing.

Hmong leaders say they chose the name Little Long Cheng to honor their past. Little Long Cheng was the name of a U.S. military facility in Laos used by the CIA-trained Hmong army during the Vietnam War.

"It is one of the reasons many of us came to the United States," said Toulu Thao, an operations specialist with HUD in Fresno. "And it reminds us of the struggles we have gone through."

Members of the Sequoia Community Health Center also will work with residents of the housing project to ensure they have information about and access to the health-care system.

The reporter can be reached at brodriguez@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6327.