1/18/2016
Armida Lopez didn’t always consider herself a community leader. She grew up in Yuma, an Arizona border town, where she had to cross a field to meet her nearest neighbors. However, she was always interested in improving the lives of those around her. An unexpected shift came when she purchased a home through NeighborWorks member Trellis.
Lopez moved to Phoenix to work for the Arizona Children’s Association and she decided to simultaneously pursue a master’s degree in social work at Arizona State University. During that time, she rented many different homes with many different roommates. After seven years, however, Lopez grew tired of adapting to the different needs of so many people. When she started looking into the real-estate market, she realized the amount she paid in rent for one room was close to the monthly mortgage on the home. After that discovery, she made the decision to pursue homeownership.
She didn’t have much money, but she knew some resources were available for first-time homebuyers. She decided on a two-pronged strategy: she called a realtor and also called around to see what organizations could offer first-time homebuyer assistance.
Lopez chose Trellis because it had the best customer service. She says, “They were always friendly, returned my calls and made the process really easy.”
With her personal savings and grants from Trellis she was able to purchase a home. “When I finally got my house in a residential neighborhood, it was really cool for me because I had grown up not having that. I thought, ‘Yes, I have neighbors now. I want to get to know them.”
She became an active community member and, recognizing her potential, Trellis invited her to join its board. She joined the fundraising committee. She heard lots of talk about organizing a golf tournament to raise money, but people seemed hesitant to act. Lopez used her nonprofit fundraising experience as a guide, became the golf tournament’s lead organizer and raised $2,500. She recalls, “It wasn’t a lot of money but everyone had a great time and looked forward to doing it again.”
Trellis was her first experience as a board member and she says, “It really opened up opportunities for me.” Since then, Lopez has joined other boards, including the neighborhood association where she lives, and has made a significant impact. When she moved in, many streetlights were damaged or not working. The city said it couldn’t afford the labor costs of doing an assessment, so Lopez and her neighbors offered to do. She recruited 35 neighbors to get together on a Saturday night to check all the lights. As a result, the neighborhood is now better lit.
Lopez has continued to join additional community activities and build her leadership skills. In 2015, Lopez took her involvement a step further and attended the NeighborWorks Community Leadership Institute. For the past two years, she has organized a local festival for her community as part of Getting Arizona Involved in Neighborhoods, a city-wide annual event in partnership with the police department. Through these activities and others, she has met many city officials, including the mayor. Recently she was nominated to be part of the Central Planning Committee for the downtown area of Phoenix.
Looking back, Lopez sees that her homebuying experience with Trellis led to some significant positive changes in her role in the community: “I consider myself a community leader now and a lot of that is due to Trellis.”