THIRTY-SIX families from Sampaloc, Manila will soon settle into their new homes, following the turnover of units at the Villa Umami Homeowners' Association Inc., a socialized on-site resettlement project of the Social Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC) for low-income households in the nation's capital.'Nagpapasalamat po kami sa lahat ng tumulong para maisakatuparan ang proyektong ito (We thank all who helped fulfill this project),' says Ryan Maypa, the homeowners association president, after receiving the ceremonial key during the turnover rites held at Matimyas Street, Barangay 527 on January 28. 'Natutuwa po kami dahil hindi ninyo kami pinabayaan hanggang makamit namin itong aming sariling tirahan (We are happy because you did not leave us until we got our own home).'Built under the agency's Community Mortgage Program (CMP), the three-story building is composed of 12 units per floor, each measuring about 35 square meters. Each family will pay approximately P3,500 per month for a maximum of 30 years.The CMP aims to improve the living conditions of underprivileged families by giving them an affordable financing scheme wherein they can borrow as a community to purchase the land they occupy or land to where wish to relocate.The 36 partner-homeowners from Villa Umami are now part of the more than 383,000 families that were provided with secure homes through the CMP. Since its inception in 1988, the program has released more than P19.1 billion in loan assistance to finance over 3,000 housing projects across the country.To date, it has provided tenurial security to roughly 430,000 families through about P26.5 billion in loan assistance under the CMP and other community-driven initiatives such as the high-density housing program and the Intramuros and Marawi projects.SHFC is the lead agency, assisting underprivileged communities in securing land tenure through shelter financing and development solutions by building adequate, livable, affordable and inclusive (BALAI) Filipino communities. For more info, visit www.shfc.dhsud.gov.ph.
