The document summarizes a program called the Self Help Housing Program that helps low-income families in Trinidad build affordable homes. The Community Resources & Housing Development Corporation plans to build 12 homes through the program, where families contribute labor to help construct their own homes over 6-8 months. This reduces costs and allows families to own homes that may otherwise be unaffordable. The program requires applicants to meet financial qualifications for mortgage loans averaging $135,000-$145,000 through USDA assistance. Local building suppliers will provide materials and CRHDC aims to make the homes energy efficient. The goal is to help families achieve the dream of home ownership.

1. 50Cents
Trinidad
Colorado
Proudly Serving Southeastern Colorado and Northeastern New Mexico • www.thechronicle-news.com
~
Vol. 138, No. 90
Tuesday
May6,2014
MAY 6
~Trinidad City Council
TUESDAY (7 p.m.) Regular session,
Council Chambers, City Hall, 135 N. Animas
St. Information: Audra Garrett, 719-846-
9843.
~Las Animas County
TUESDAY (9 a.m.) Board of County
Commissioners meeting is in the Las Ani-
mas Courthouse, 200 E. First St., Room 201.
Information: 719-845-2568. COUNTY COM-
MISSIONERS: Gary Hill (719-845-2595),
Mack Louden (719-845-2592), and Anthony
Abeyta (719-846-9300).
Today’s Quote
“Where the spirit does not work
with the hand, there is no art.”
~Leonardo da Vinci
MAY 7
~Raton PBW Scholarship
WEDNESDAY DEADLINE: A $500
scholarship for continuing education is avail-
able to any student or person in the work
force in Colfax County. Information: Diane
Dixon, 575-445-2713.
~Trinidad Schools
WEDNESDAY (6 p.m.) The annual Aca-
demic Awards Presentations will be held at
the Trinidad Middle School, 614 Park St. In-
formation: 719-845-2048.
~Trinidad Schools
WEDNESDAY (7:30 p.m.) Board of
Education will hold its regular session at the
Middle School Library, 614 Park St. Informa-
tion: 719-845-2048.
PUBLIC SERVICE
~Help Save the Veteran’s Post
URGENT: All interested parties who
would like to help the veterans save Trini-
dad’s local VFW Post 984 from closing,
please contact Commander John Rios at
719-846-6094. The Post is in desperate
need of caring individuals to champion this
organization that provides so many honor-
able benefits to the community.
~ Library Volunteers Needed
If you want to volunteer at the Carnegie
Library’s bookstore, Novel Destinations, 132
N. Commercial St., please call: 719-846-
8522.
~TDOG Park Organizers
THURSDAY (9:30 a.m.) The Trinidad
Dog Owners Group will have a meeting at
the Carnegie Library, 202 Animas St. Infor-
mation: Mary Rogers, 719-846-6030. Every-
one welcome.
~Adopt a City Planter
FRIDAY DEADLINE: Individuals, or-
ganizations and businesses interested in
participating in the City’s “Adopt a Planter”
program, scheduled to run from May thru
September, can contact David Esquibel at
the Parks Dept., 719-846-7699.
~Senior Driving Class
MAY 15 (9 a.m.-1 p.m.) The AARP
Driving Class will be held at the Sayre Senior
Center, 1222 San Pedro St. Registration and
information: Anna Risley, 719-846-3336.
~ArtoCade Fiber Art Workshop
MAY 17 (10 a.m.-4 p.m.) Join in this
free and fun workshop for ArtoCade’s “Van
De Los Muertos” entry at Oasis Studios, 216
E. Main St. Information: Susan Palmer, 719-
422-8108.
~Celebrate National EMS Week
MAY 19-23 (4-9 p.m. each evening)
The public is invited to an open house at
The Trinidad Ambulance District building,
939 Robinson Ave. Register to win one of
four free gifts. MAY 24/SATURDAY (10 a.m.)
Family Fun Day at Trinidad Catholic Football
Field complete with a Firemen’s Challenge
and Chili Cookoff.
~Calling all History Lovers
MAY-SEPTEMBER: Anyone interested
in volunteering for summer service at the
Santa Fe Trail Museum please contact Paula
Manini at 719-846-7217.
~Stonewall Fishing Tournament
JUNE 7 (9 a.m.-3 p.m.) Join in the fun
at the 18th Annual Stonewall Fire Auxiliary’s
Fishing Tournament at Monument Lake.
Registration and information: www.stone-
wallfireauxiliary.com.
~ArtoCade 2014
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS: Anyone
interested in participating in the Cardango
Gala and all other events before and during
the annual ArtoCade Festival please contact
Rodney Wood at 719-334-0087 or artcar-
fun@yahoo.com.
~From the LA County Clerk
License plate renewal online. Go to:
www.colorado.gov/renewplates.
~SUICIDE/CRISIS HOTLINES:
*ADULT HOPE: 800-784-2433
*TEEN: 877-968-8454
*GLB-YOUTH: 866-488-7386
*VET-2-VET: 877-838-2838
“When the world says, ‘Give up!’ Hope
says, ‘Not today!” ~Unknown
~ ABUSE HOTLINES:
*Domestic Abuse Hotline: In Trinidad
call 719-846-6665 (24-hours a day). National
Hotline call: 1-800-790-SAFE (7233).
*Animal Abuse: Do your part and help
put a stop to animal cruelty. Report animal
abuse and dog/cock fighting at Crime Stop-
pers anonymous tip line: 720-913-7867.
TheFinePrint
WeatherWatch
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 81.
West wind around 15 mph. Night: Mostly
clear, with a low around 46. SW wind 10
to 15 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near
76. Breezy, with a S-SW wind 10 to 15
mph increasing to 20 to 25 mph in the af-
ternoon. Night: Partly cloudy, with a low
around 40. Breezy, with a W-SW wind 20
to 25 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph in
the evening.
Thursday: A 10 percent chance of
showers and thunderstorms after noon.
Partly sunny, with a high near 65. W-NW
wind 10 to 15 mph. Night: A 10 percent
chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Partly cloudy, with a low around 38. NW
wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near
70. W-SW wind 10 to 15 mph. Night:
Mostly clear, with a low around 44. W-SW
wind 10 to 15 mph.
RiverCallPurgatoire River Call as of
05/05/2014. Johns Flood ditch:
Priority #20 -- Appropriation
date: 10/07/1865.
Trinidad Reservoir Accounting:
Release 364.75 AF
Inflow 102.21 AF -- 51.53 CFS
Evaporation 12.46 AF
Content 16,474 AF
Elevation 6,178.38
Precipitation 0
Downstream River Call / High-
land Canal: 05/31/1866.
TheChronicleNewsAMERICAN DREAM
National program helps people build own homes
By Steve Block
The Chronicle-News
Families who are struggling fi-
nancially sometimes have to live
in substandard housing because
they can’t afford anything better.
Some of those families, however,
may now be able to build their
own new homes through the Self
Help Housing Program, sponsored
by the Community Resources &
Housing Development Corpora-
tion (CRHDC).
Two CRHDC representatives
have been in Trinidad for the last
two weeks seeking applicants for
the Self Help Housing Program.
CRHDC plans call for the build-
ing of 12 new, affordable homes for
families who qualify for financial
assistance through the program.
The homes are planned for an area
of northern Trinidad called City
View Heights, which is near the
northern end of San Pedro Street.
CRHDC built 14 new homes in the
area in the 1990s.
CRHDC has helped more than
1,600 families build their homes
in 30 different Colorado counties
through its mutual self-help pro-
gram, which allows new home-
buyers to take an active role in
the construction of
their own homes. In
this program, par-
ticipants contribute
significant “sweat
equity” towards
the construction of
their home, bring-
ing down devel-
opment costs and
producing a more
affordable home.
Each family con-
tributes a minimum of 30 hours of
labor per week towards the homes
for approximately six to eight
months, according to the website
www.crhdc.org.
Homeowners are trained in
various building skills, such as
pouring concrete, carpentry and
installing drywall. Each home-
building project is assigned a con-
struction supervisor to make sure
the project gets done correctly.
Three- and four-bedroom homes
are planned for the Trinidad proj-
ect.
The Self Help Program requires
applicants to be employed, to be
U.S. citizens and to have a rounded
credit score of at least 600, though
the program has a counselor avail-
able to help those people who can’t
reach that score. People who qual-
ify through the program can use
their own labor in exchange for
a down payment. The homeown-
ers get to choose from a variety
of floor plans, choose the color of
their new home, the landscaping,
the type of driveway, cabinets and
much more. All the single-level
houses will be built on concrete
slabs, and homeowners can choose
either a one- or a two-car garage.
Emily Strasel, a CRHDC mar-
keting associate based in Ala-
mosa, described the process that
prospective homeowners had to go
through to attain a home of their
own. CHRDC receives most of its
funding for the program from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) Rural Development Pro-
gram.
“Before we can start this pro-
gram we need to have interest,”
Strasel said. “We need to have ap-
plicants. Then we’re going to ap-
ply for the grant to purchase the
subdivision land,
which is part of the
mortgage loan the
applicant will take
out. An average
mortgage will be in
the price range of
$135,000 to $145,000,
but along with that,
with no down pay-
ment, we also offer
payment assistance
through the USDA, which defers
your interest. So once you’re mort-
gage is paid off, then you pay your
interest off, so that helps keep your
payment down.”
Strasel said the mortgage loans
had to be paid off in a time period
of between 30 to 32 years. Local
applicants can get their applica-
tions pre-approved by CRHDC’s
Alamosa office, but final approval
depends on USDA Rural Develop-
ment, with the loan process taking
one week to three weeks.
“We don’t have anyone ap-
proved yet,” she said. “We’re just
starting to get applications, but
we’ve only been advertising here
for about two weeks. We’ve got
about four or five applications.”
Local building-supply compa-
nies in the Trinidad area would
supply the materials for the home-
building projects, Strasel said.
Most of CRHDC’s newly built
homes, she said, were Energy-Star
Steve Block / The Chronicle-News
Emily Strasel of CRHDC is looking for people in Trinidad who would like to help
build and own a new home of their own.
Continued on Page 2 ...
ACHIEVEMENT
Trinidad State to honor
more than 100 graduates
By Greg Boyce
Special to The Chronicle-News
Trinidad State will highlight
two outstanding students during
commencement
ceremonies on
May 9, as diplo-
mas and certifi-
cates are award-
ed to more than
100 graduates.
Shelby Walk-
er has a perfect
4.0 Grade Point
Average in her
two years at
Trinidad State.
She started as a
Pre-Veterinary
major but dis-
covered a love
of chemistry, so she switched to
Pre-Pharmacy. “I really enjoyed
taking chemistry here, and that’s
what initiated my degree path,”
said Walker. She’s been accepted
at the School of Pharmacy at Tex-
as Tech, where she will continue
her education in the fall.
It will take four more years
for her to become a pharmacist,
but she already has a head start.
She said most people spend three
years in college before getting into
a pharmacy program, but she was
able to do it in
two at Trinidad
State.
A standout
on the Trini-
dad State Vol-
leyball Team,
Walker cred-
its her sports
participation
with helping to
build her sense
of teamwork
and to develop
her leadership
skills.
A m a n d a
Sturgeon has a 3.97 grade point av-
erage, and she will graduate with
an Associate of Applied Science in
Nursing. A resident of Denver for
the last 25 years, she chose Trini-
dad State’s Nursing School for two
reasons. “In Denver, there’s a five-
year waiting list to get into nurs-
ing programs,” said Sturgeon.
“Partly for that
reason and
partly because
my father lives
in Cimarron,
New Mexico,
so I was com-
ing down to this
area to be near
him — I want-
ed to be some-
where near my
father.”
S t u r g e o n
plans to take
the Registered
Nurse tests this
summer and
hopes to land a
job in the area
to start gaining
some work ex-
perience. She
started taking
online nursing classes at the Uni-
versity of Colorado at Colorado
Springs (UCCS) in January. With-
in the next year and a half, she
hopes to graduate from there with
a Bachelor of Sci-
ence in Nursing.
“It’s been
great,” Sturgeon
said of Trinidad
State. “Small, not
big classes, get to
know your teach-
ers — so it’s been
good.”
Jay Cimino,
President and CEO
of Phil Long Deal-
erships, will speak
at the graduation
ceremony. Cimino
is a Trinidad na-
tive and Trinidad
State alumnus. He
has been instru-
mental in inspiring
growth and change
in the local commu-
nity through the es-
tablishment of the Trinidad Com-
munity Foundation, Phil Long
Toyota of Trinidad, Phil Long
Ford of Raton, Mt. Carmel Health,
Wellness, and Community Center,
and recent plans for La Puerta de
Colorado, a proposed downtown
revitalization development that
is slated to include a classic car
museum, a brew pub, a restaurant
and other attractions designed to
bring tourists to Trinidad. He also
funds scholarships for Holy Trin-
ity Academy concurrent-enroll-
ment students and students plan-
ning to attend Trinidad State after
graduation.
Commencement will begin at
10 a.m. at Trinidad State on May
9 in the “Pit,” a grassy amphithe-
ater located just west of Scott Gym.
Photos courtesy of Greg Boyce
Graduate Shelby Walker, above, has been accepted to the pharmacy program
at Texas Tech. Amanda Sturgeon, below, is continuing her education in nurs-
ing at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Jay Cimino, left, will
deliver the keynote address at Trinidad State’s graduation ceremony on May 9.
“Owning your own house, especially
when you’ve put your own sweat equity
into it, has to be very satisfying.”