Victoria, Cristalee, Joslyn and Miguel De Jesus

South Hartford residents for close to 35 years, Victoria and Miguel DeJesus moved from a three-family house to their single-family home on Linnmoore Street six years ago. "We didn’t want to leave our neighborhood, and our grandkids were all here. They come to visit every day!," Miguel says proudly. Outside their tidy two-story home, a rooster crows a silent but warm welcome to visitors from a colorful flag by the front stoop. Inside, tremendously colorful walls evoke thoughts of the warm Caribbean, and a flock of ceramic roosters cheerfully perch all around a brand new kitchen.

"Every other house we saw was really small, and none of them had a fireplace. This one has four bedrooms, a step up from our last house that only had three. Two of our six kids were still living at home then, so we wanted it mostly for the size," recalls Miguel.

"The school was just one block away, and this is a strong house that didn’t need too much work, at least inside," the DeJesuses say.

The family describes their south Hartford neighborhood as a quiet working class community with a solid school and plenty of good retail shopping very close by. They like that the bus stops just one block away, and have always enjoyed strolling through the neighborhood. Mr. DeJesus takes pride in keeping the house up, and has enjoyed doing much of the necessary repair work himself. "We tried to fix the inside first, starting with the bathrooms. The exterior, well, it had wood shingles and the former owner was here over 30 years, and so were those shingles! There were four layers of shingles on the roof, and all of the windows were really drafty," he shudders.

To improve the exterior, the DeJesus family first tried painting. "It looked nicer, but the more we did, the more rotten shingles we found, so the price just kept going up! We decided we just had to go with siding. And the roof, well, the first quote I got to fix just that was for eighteen thousand dollars," DeJesus practically gasps.

Victoria and Miguel De Jesus

Miguel DeJesus had been carefully planning and saving for the improvements his new home required. The house is as warm and welcoming as Miguel and Victoria themselves, but also thoughtfully planned out and carefully executed, reflective of their meticulous natures as well. Not one to choose the first roofer or siding company to seek him out as a new homeowner, Miguel was thorough, savvy and patient in planning repairs and selecting the right contractors to make them. When it was time to consider finding a qualified roofer, Miguel approached one who seemed to be doing a good job on a neighbor’s home. "I asked him for a quote to do my roof and also replace my windows. He wanted $25,000 at first, and then he changed his mind and asked for $31,000. When I told him no way I could pay that, he told me to call HCLF," recalls Miguel.

Rosa Rubbo at HCLF reviewed Miguel DeJesus’ renovation needs, and performed a credit check. At first, she thought the roofing contractor’s quote was just too high. Then when she realized that he kept raising his quote, she knew something just wasn’t right. "It was kind of funny, really, because this guy introduced me to HCLF, but then I wound up dismissing him because he just wasn’t being up front with me!" Miguel chuckles.

In July of 2004, the DeJesus family took out a $25,500 Home Improvement Loan from HCLF. HCLF referred the DeJesus family to several other contractors. Mr. and Mrs. DeJesus ultimately selected a less expensive contractor who completed all of the required repairs within their budget: not just a new roof, but also siding, 34 new windows, gutters, and shutters. "I had a friend who was looking for a similar loan, and went to a lot of lenders. He had already decided to go with one of them, and the next day they were going to drop off the shingles for the work and he was going to be committed to using them, of course. I couldn’t believe it, but he had never asked them about the interest rate on that loan. He found out it was over 14%! That night I told him about HCLF, because my loan had such a low interest rate," says Miguel. "I saved him from a big mistake, an expensive mistake!"

For his own repair work, it wasn’t just HCLF’s low interest rate that appealed to Miguel DeJesus. "I’m so happy I did this loan through HCLF, and they helped me out with the contractor, too! Other lenders just don’t do that. They’re just good people to work with, and I’m so happy I went through that program," he says enthusiastically. "This was beautiful, the way they talk to you, the way they want to help you out. They aren’t looking to rip you off, they want to do things right. They take charge, and the way HCLF pays the contractors half now and half later appealed to me a lot."

The DeJesus family takes obvious pride in their home and their neighborhood. They look forward to seeing people stop on the sidewalk to admire the results of their hard-won savings and wise choice of both lenders and contractors. "Let me tell you, those contractors, they know HCLF has tough standards, and they feel like they have to do the job right," he says with confidence.

DeJesus credits HCLF for making a visible difference not only with his home, but also throughout his neighborhood. "People are starting to fix their houses because they found out about mine. I feel like I want to tell everybody! I told my sister, my sister’s friends, everyone I know because I’m so happy with how I did it, and it wasn’t that difficult to do it, either! You can trust HCLF," he says emphatically. He thinks there are many people willing to invest in homes in the community, and his advice to them is, "Before you borrow, think twice! Better to go through Hartford Community Loan Fund."

Loan funds provided by CT Department of Economic and Community Development.