Antonia Ehlers, Community Contributor
Posted Tue, Sep 27, 2022 at 2:40 pm PT
Under the hot September sun, Kaiser Permanente volunteers recently spent the afternoon working on a new affordable housing community in Walnut Creek – Esperanza Place.
The project broke ground a year ago. Kaiser Permanente partnered with Habitat for Humanity, the City of Walnut Creek and the Lesher Foundation to build Esperanza Place. The contemporary community is nestled along the Iron Horse Trail, which is close to BART and the amenities of the wider area.
“Esperanza Place increases access to homeownership, along with a host of positive health, financial and educational outcomes,” said Janice Jensen, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley. “Most important, it will give people a chance to build generational wealth.”
The 42 townhomes of Esperanza Place will be located in eight buildings, with a central community space and beautiful oak trees. The new buildings will have solar panels on the rooftops because Esperanza Place was designed for Zero Net Energy, which means it will produce more energy than it will consume.
Kaiser Permanente, a development sponsor, has pledged $400,000 over the next four years. On a recent Saturday, volunteers worked on everything from foundations to rooftops.
“It’s a great day to make a difference,” said Chris Boyd, Kaiser Permanente senior vice president and area manager for the Diablo service area. “We’re all out here building a better future for our community. The partnership we have with Habitat for Humanity is going to make dreams come true for people in our local community.”
One of the volunteers, Rose Baty, volunteers on Habitat build days whenever she can. In 2014, she received keys to her Habitat home in San Pablo on Thanksgiving Day. It was a turning point for the single mother of three, who works in the Surgery Department at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center.
During the past few years, Baty has sent all three of her children off to college while working on a master’s degree in counseling. She got married in June and said the encouragement she received from Habitat for Humanity made it all possible.
“I’m so thankful for Habitat,” she said. “There’s no way I sent three kids off to college without having my Habitat home. That’s why I come out to volunteer whenever I can. Someone did this for me, and I’m always open and willing to do this for someone else. I’m grateful for this program because it has given me a place of peace, and it has given my children a place of tranquility.”
Patti Wang Cross is the communications manager for Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley. She said Saturday was an important day because it will impact the lives of Esperanza Place’s future residents.
“We really need all the help we can get out here,” she added. “We’re very lucky to have our partners at Kaiser Permanente out here in force, putting their hearts and hands on these homes to get the job done.”
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