Closing the racial wealth gap requires fearless leaders in our communities who work tirelessly to make positive change like our Chief Operating Officer, Elena Gonzales. She is a native New Mexican who has fiercely advocated for underserved populations and dedicated over 30 years of her life to making homeownership affordable in New Mexico. We recently sat down with her to learn more about her journey.
What inspired you to want to help more New Mexicans become homeowners?
When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to work part-time for a small family-owned real estate company. During college, I got my Real Estate license and began managing the office for the Realtors. I found myself providing in-depth housing counseling and education to the families that I was working with to find a home. It became very apparent to me that buying a home for most families is complex and very intimidating. It was so personally rewarding for me to see that I could make a huge impact by taking the time to listen to people, understand their barriers, and help them get across the finish line and into a home. I found myself chairing the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Committee at the Board of Realtors and becoming imbedded in helping folks who were seemingly being overlooked for homeownership opportunities. I never looked back and have dedicated my life to leveling the playing field and helping people get a fair shot to fulfill their dream of owning a home and building wealth for their family.
How did you end up at Homewise?
I ran a non-profit called Home New Mexico for many years, helping people with disabilities become homeowners. I had worked with the NM Mortgage Finance Authority to create a down payment assistance program for this target population and one of my early career contacts was Mark Vanderlinden, who worked for MFA and Fannie Mae. I heard he moved back to New Mexico and worked for Homewise. I was so excited to have lunch with him to pitch the idea of brokering loans to Homewise from my non-profit. One thing led to another, and I soon found myself working for Homewise and running the operations in Albuquerque, where they had recently expanded to! This was a dream come true—now I had the resources and infrastructure to help even more people! I’m still going strong after 10 years and I now oversee the operations for both Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
What is the most significant challenge that you have helped Homewise overcome?
I have worked really hard to ensure that Homewise is flexible enough in its operations and lending in order to help more individuals and families get into homeownership. I have dedicated a lot of time to overcome the challenge of affordability by raising the bar and the priority of increasing access to deeper down payment subsidies. It took me 3 years to convince the City of Albuquerque that they needed to address the lack of down payment assistance programs and dedicate some Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) funds to this effort. We are now in the 6th year of administering their Homebuyer Assistance Program where an income-eligible family may qualify for up to $40,000 in assistance to purchase a home. This has been a game changer in Albuquerque!
What is something unique about working with a predominantly Hispanic population like New Mexico?
The strong desire to own a home and the pride of ownership is so strong in the Hispanic community, that it serves as an inspiration and reminder that we all want and deserve a stable, safe, affordable place to live and put down roots. I love that my culture is very family-oriented, and a home is where everyone gathers, cooks, laughs, and makes memories together. We used to call my parent’s house “Grand Central Station” because this was the hub where everyone gathered for holidays, birthdays, and even Sunday dinners. Now that both my parents have passed, I have carried on that tradition at my house.
How does your own identity as a Hispanic woman help you to better serve your community?
I am proud of my life’s work and the work of Homewise to ensure that we address the gap in homeownership and wealth for Hispanics in relation to our White counterparts. I love fighting the good fight to ensure equal rights and overall fairness. Being a Hispanic woman, I have a great perspective on how to help the underserved and make sure others have a seat at the table to affect change in our community.
What are some of the life-changing lessons you learned from mentors throughout your career?
My biggest mentors were my parents. I remember my mom pumping her fist in the air and saying, “go for it mijita!” She hated unfairness and said that fighting the good fight is always worth it in the end. My parents faced some discrimination in their early life and were prohibited from speaking Spanish and got in trouble at school for doing so. My dad was such an optimist in life. He loved people! He was a gentle soul and really made his daughters understand how our words and actions affect others. He did not ever want us to use the words, “stupid, shut-up or hate.” He didn’t punish us if we ever slipped, but rather, would patiently explain the heaviness of those words and the negative impact they have. To this day, I don’t use those words, because boy, was he right!
What has been the most significant personal challenge you’ve faced in your career and how did you overcome it?
I started young in this field and for quite a while I felt like I was not taken seriously about my ambitious goals to help the underserved get into homeownership. I was young, female and Hispanic. I wanted to raise more awareness and resources when I ran Home New Mexico and it was challenging, but I never gave up! I joined a 10 state Coalition called Home of Your Own Alliance where we all had similar missions to help people with disabilities become homeowners. After the first year, I was helping people left and right and the other states were so curious as to how I was doing it. I told them, “the barrier for people with disabilities getting into homeownership is not their disability, it is barriers that we all face – credit, debt, savings and income!” Once I explained how I went about 1:1 coaching to overcome those barriers and creating resources like down payment assistance, a special Fannie Mae loan, and a HUD Section 8 Homeownership Program in Bernalillo County, it all started making sense to the other states.
What advice do you wish someone had given you earlier in your career?
Not to doubt myself and the impact I could make just because I am a Hispanic woman. Early in career, I often assumed that White men controlled all of the resources and that I had to work hard to impress them to get my point across or prove to them that I knew what I was doing. Boy, did I overcome that!
What is your advice to others who want to make a positive impact in their community?
Just do it! Don’t be afraid to speak up when you see injustice, but rather, do something about it. There are many racial injustices in our country and access to affordable homeownership opportunities is still one of them. SO, GET OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT WHATEVER YOU SEEK TO CHANGE.
Interested in joining the Homewise team? Head over to our website to check out our job openings.