Georgette Gomez

Community Development Officer, Casa Familiar

Like many before her, Georgette’s path to joining the environmental justice movement was born out of her own lived experience. Growing up in Barrio Logan, a community landlocked by freeways and industrial ports, Georgette witnessed the severe health impacts that resulted from historic redlining and unjust land use planning.

To advocate for environmental justice communities like Barrio, Georgette spent 12 years at the Environmental Health Coalition and the following ______ years as a city councilmember for San Diego. In these roles she pushed for and secured affordable housing and clean transportation policies, teaching decision makers along the way that development doesn’t have to happen at the expense of people’s health and wellbeing. When she was later offered an opportunity to lead Casa Familiar’s new affordable housing project, which reflected many of her own equitable development principles, she jumped aboard.

The concept of Avanzando, a permanently affordable, rent-to-own housing complex, came about after the completion of Casa’s first affordable housing development. Executive Director, Lisa Cuestas, was left with a desire to develop more than rentals.  She wanted to make it more accessible for families living in California’s southern border communities to build wealth through homeownership. In San Ysidro, where Casa focuses its work, most residents cannot afford the costs associated with owning a home, so the organization set off to change that.

“We’re working in a community that is starved of resources and we’re always playing the role of, how much can we jam into a project, how creative can we be? If we’re talking about transformation, let’s move something forward that will get us there and deliver what the community deserves.”

Casa decided to try something that hadn’t been done before in the state. They would develop affordable housing in San Ysidro using an innovative community land trust (CLT) model. The CLT prevents the property from being valued at market rate and keeps the housing affordable. Long-term affordability means Avanzando’s low-income renters have the opportunity to eventually own their units.

 
 
 

Georgette joined the team once the CLT was established and project planning was underway, working to ensure that Avanzando becomes a space that the community needs and deserves. Future residents and community members were brought into the fold from the start and even took part in selecting the architect and Avanzando’s final design. From this foundational community engagement, Georgette and Casa learned what makes housing feel like home for San Ysidro residents. A few years from now, Avanzando will be ready for residents to enjoy what they once imagined- electric cooling, shade trees, and a splashpad to protect from extreme heat; filtration to keep indoor air quality safe; and shared spaces for community services and programs.

With tight budgets and complex requirements, developing community-owned affordable housing is anything but straightforward. Though, Georgette’s approach teaches us that these innovative projects are possible when there’s a commitment to those you serve, “We’re working in a community that is starved of resources and we’re always playing the role of, how much can we jam into a project, how creative can we be? If we’re talking about transformation, let’s move something forward that will get us there and deliver what the community deserves.” Housing like Avanzando moves beyond the bare minimum that environmental jus tice communities are used to. With its vibrant built environment and green spaces, and generational wealth building opportunities, Avanzando offers a new path for how affordable housing can be done.

 

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