She went to Habitat for Humanity because she was willing to work, but the volunteer requirements were too difficult to juggle working full-time. She heard about Ibero’s Home Rochester program. While Dorelis has become very proficient in English, Spanish is her first language. Ibero’s programs include selling affordable homes and first-time homebuyer education classes in Spanish. The Ibero program provided an opportunity for Dorelis to learn more about home ownership as well as closing costs and financial assistance grants for first-time homebuyers. Between her hard-earned savings, and Home Purchase Assistance Grants, Dorelis accumulated enough for a serious down payment on a new home.

Noel Vasquez works for Ibero and is a certified realtor. He took Dorelis to see Jerold St, a collaborative rehab project between multiple agencies to pilot the process of retrofitting an older home into one with a near net-zero carbon footprint. Work included sustainable heating and cooling technologies including solar panels and heat pump hot water heater and furnace. Dorelis said “I was ignorant” and didn’t trust that a home with no heating vents or standard furnace would be warm enough. “I’m from Puerto Rico,” Dorelis said, “I don’t like to be cold.” She loved the house, but said she was not interested.

She looked at other houses but none was as nice as Jerold St. Dorelis did some research. She learned that Jerold St. had innovative technology that worked beautifully to keep homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer. She called Noel and told him she wanted the house. Her family moved in five months ago and all of the health troubles her family experienced have disappeared. Her mortgage payment is now about $650/mo. and her last utility bill was only $18.00. Dorelis was absolutely thrilled to talk about her new home and how much she loves it, “My worries are gone. I’m still in the clouds!”