Welcome Home, Ortiz-Villafuerte Family!
Mano en Mano is proud to welcome the Ortiz-Villafuerte family to their new home in Cherryfield through our housing initiative, Welcome Home Downeast LLC.
Maria and Jose stand in front of their home in Cherryfield, Maine.
For many years the Ortiz Villafuerte family has worked in the blueberry harvest and wreath-making season in Washington County. They have always dreamed of putting down roots in the community where they have built relationships and grown to love the calm and beauty of the Downeast region.
In early 2023, that dream became reality.
Maria Ortiz shared:
“Welcome Home Downeast came to us like a miracle. We had been looking for a place for a long time, and were living with family while we looked. We first looked for rentals and couldn't find one close to our loved ones or jobs. Then we decided to start learning about the homeownership process and ran into the difficulty of not qualifying for a loan with the magnitude of the housing prices at the time.”
Thanks to Welcome Home Downeast LLC—Mano en Mano’s housing program in partnership with Sunrise County Economic Council—the Ortiz Villafuerte family became one of the first tenants in a newly renovated property in Cherryfield. The program is designed to provide safe, affordable housing and a pathway to home ownership for families with ties to seasonal and agricultural work in Maine.
The home before renovations, during and now!
Maria shares:
“We learned about the program through our involvement with Nuestra Voz, and since we met all the requirements, applied, and qualified. About three months after applying, they called us to show us the potential house we would move into. Upon seeing it, we decided to accept the challenge, and now we've been living there for almost two years and working on the process of purchasing it.”
Their new home is close to school and work opportunities, and the family says they feel more connected to the local community.
“We wanted to live in the area because a lot of our family lives here; plus, we found good job opportunities,” they said.
Through the Welcome Home Downeast program, families like the Ortiz Villafuertes have the option to rent with the opportunity to purchase their homes within five years. This creates an important opportunity for long-term stability and financial empowerment for families looking to plant roots in Downeast Maine.
“One thing I love about the program is that they guide you toward achieving your goal of buying a home.” shares Maria.
As we celebrate the Ortiz Villafuerte family’s new beginning, we also recognize the ongoing housing challenges facing many families in Washington County. That’s why Mano en Mano and our partners continue working to expand access to affordable, dignified housing through programs like Welcome Home Downeast and the Housing Barrier Removal Fund.
We believe that for communities to thrive, people must be able to plant roots, raise their families, and participate fully in the places they call home. The Ortiz Villafuertes are doing just that—and we couldn’t be more excited to say:
“Welcome home, Ortiz Villafuerte family!”
If you’d like to learn more about Welcome Home Downeast LLC or know of a property in the area that may be available for rehabilitation, please contact Elan Gabel Richards at 207 844.
