የሥራ ፓርቲዎች
Jarrod Kluk and Erandenie Hernandez celebrate becoming first-time homeowners through Homestead. Learn more about their journey to homeownership in this video.
Finding Home & Community at Puget Ridge Cohousing: Jarrod & Era’s Homestead Story
Homestead የፕሮጀክት ፍላጎቶች ሲወጡ የማህበረሰብ በጎ ፈቃደኞችን ለተለያዩ የስራ-ፓርቲ ልምዶች ይጋብዛል። ወራሪ የእጽዋት ዝርያዎችን ከማህበረሰቡ ቦታዎች ማስወገድ፣ የግድግዳ ስዕሎችን መቀባት፣ የማህበረሰብ መናፈሻዎችን ማቋቋም፣ ቤቶችን ማደስ፣ ብቁ ለሆኑ አመልካቾች የቤት ጉብኝትን መደገፍ፣ አነስተኛ የቤት ጥገና ወይም ዝቅተኛ ገቢ ላላቸው ቤተሰቦች ጥገና ማድረግ።
የበጎ ፈቃደኞች ዝግጅቶች እንደ አስፈላጊነቱ መርሐግብር ተይዞላቸዋል። ስለ ሥራ ፓርቲዎች እና ተዛማጅ የበጎ ፈቃደኞች ጥረቶች እንዲገናኙዎት ከፈለጉ፣ እባክዎን ኢሜይል ይላኩ።getinvolved@homesteadclt.orgከርዕሰ ጉዳዩ ጋር፡ በጎ ፈቃደኝነት መሥራት እፈልጋለሁ።
Jarrod and Era on their wedding day at Puget Ridge.
Jarrod Kluk serves as a Program Specialist for the local nonprofit WestSide Baby, which provides essential items for children to social service providers throughout King County. His partner, Era Hernandez works as an electrologist downtown—grateful for the opportunity the job provides in administering gender-affirming care for members of the trans community.
“Growing up, I moved every two years. My family experienced pretty perpetual housing insecurity,” shared Kluk. “I don't have, like, a specific town that I grew up in…just kind of Southern California.”
But their neighbors at Puget Ridge Cohousing felt like a real community to the couple. Kluk and Hernandez got married in the community’s Common House, with friends and family in attendance to commemorate the joyous occasion.
“Our neighbor Mike, he made pizzas for us in the pizza oven. A lot of people volunteered to help move all the tables and set everything up. Charlotte made cupcakes and our [wedding] cake. It was amazing to see people willingly give their time to us,” said Hernandez.
As renters, Kluk and Hernandez would have loved to own a home in the community, but didn’t see it as a possibility. That was until they heard of Homestead Community Land Trust.
Thanks to a special partnership between Puget Ridge Cohousing Association (PRCA) and Homestead, the couple was able to purchase the first permanently affordable land trust unit. This vision, to establish one of the 23 homes on the property as an affordable home, was held by long-time resident and community activist Marty McLaren, whose bequest to Homestead made it a reality. McLaren died in 2021.
“Marty struggled with cancer for several years,” said Paul Fischburg. “She got a two-weeks-to-live diagnosis from the doctor, and literally the next day, Marty called Barbara, my wife, and said, ‘Is there some way you and Paul can help me use part of my estate to address affordability at Puget Ridge Cohousing?’”
Fischburg is one of the founding members of PRCA. After years of planning to get the cohousing development off the ground, Fischburg and his wife were among the first residents to move into the neighborhood back in 1994.
To make Marty’s wish come true, Paul reached out to Homestead.
“Homestead fosters community…and we’re all about community, so it feels like a great fit,” said Fischburg. “And it’s been a great partnership.”
Once the partnership was established, Paul created the Land Trust Task Force at Puget Ridge and met with a dozen resident volunteers to confer with the community on the process.
Era enjoys sharing their passion for cooking as a member of the PRCA ‘Meals Committee’ where they volunteer to prepare meals at the community’s Common House, open to all residents. (Photo/Gurjot Kang)
“We met probably every two weeks in the beginning, first just trying to figure out the nuts and bolts [of] what needed to be done,” said Diane Hetrick, PRCA Task Force member and resident of 18 years.
Alongside the gift from McLaren’s estate, the PRCA community raised over $45,000 to further reduce the price of the home to be affordable to an income-qualified household in Homestead’s program.
It took more than a year for the right home to become available, but in winter of 2023, when it went on sale, Kluk and Hernandez applied. A week before Christmas, Kluk and Hernandez moved into their very own Homestead home at PRCA.
“This home was like a stepping stone for them to go from being part of the community to being owners in the community,” said Fischburg, “And that’s…that's just a beautiful thing.”
"We’re still settling in, but it feels right,” said Hernandez. “We’ll turn to each other and be like, ‘oh, we have a house!’”
"Every day, it feels a little bit more real," added Kluk, smiling. "I struggle with that. I'm like, 'wait, is this really our home?'"
Diane Hetrick, Jarrod Kluk, Erandenie Hernandez, and Paul Fischburg pictured at Puget Ridge Cohousing. (Photo/Gurjot Kang)
Diane Hetrick says: “The thing that makes me happiest about all of it is that even though Marty never got to meet Jarrod and Era, she would have loved them…She loved young people. She loved people who had energy and were going out into the world and trying to make a difference. I can sit here and just know that this has totally fulfilled Marty's wishes.”