The $50 million first phase of the Cherry Crossing project in Sanger includes one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging from $450 to $1,200 per month, depending on household income. Eighteen units are reserved for farmworker families. Self-Help Enterprises photo

Self-Help Enterprises, a Visalia-based community development organization specializing in housing for low-income families, celebrated the ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for Cherry Crossing, a 72-unit affordable housing development in Sanger — a project that leaders said is both long overdue and just the start. 

“Cherry Crossing is, above all else, workforce housing for farmworkers and other low-income workers in Sanger,” said Tom Collishaw, president and CEO of Self-Help Enterprises. “Testifying to the need of the project, we’ve already rented 66 of these 72 units, so we only have a few left, and we expect the project to be fully occupied by the end of this month.”

The $50 million first phase of the project includes one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging from $450 to $1,200 per month, depending on household income. Eighteen units are reserved for farmworker families. 

A second phase is already in planning and would bring 64 additional units to the site located at 1360 Cherry Ave.

For Collishaw, Cherry Crossing holds special meaning.

“We haven’t done as much housing [in Sanger] as we have in some of the surrounding communities, and that’s because of a really strange regulatory problem,” he said, referencing a U.S. Department of Agriculture policy from the 1980s that excluded Sanger from federal rural housing funds. “This is why this is so exciting to me, who’s been at Self-Help Enterprises since they invented dirt.” 

Frank Gonzalez, the mayor of Sanger, praised the development as an important step for both the city and the surrounding region. 

“We in the City of Sanger are thrilled — thrilled to death — to have this kind of project,” he said. “This is the kind of thing that brings us all together… It’s a community, it’s a region, it’s helping out people that need a home, somewhere to lay their head, somewhere they can afford.”

Fresno County contributed ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Covid recovery funds for amenities that include a playground and a full-length basketball court. 

Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Amina Flores Becker called Cherry Crossing “a perfect example of what it takes to address affordable housing shortages in our region… It takes collaboration with partners like Self-Help Enterprises, and it really takes out-of-the-box thinking to braid funding like ARPA and our affordable housing dollars.”

Funding partners for the project include the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which provided $3.1 million from the Joe Serna Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program and $9.5 million through its Multifamily Housing Program. Fresno County added $1 million from its HOME program and another $210,000 in ARPA funds. US Bank provided construction financing and a $22 million equity investment.

Josh Evju, vice president at US Bank’s Impact Finance division, noted the stakes and complexity of projects like Cherry Crossing.

“These projects are harder than hard and complex beyond the average market-rate developer’s wildest dreams,” he said. “When a bank like US Bank is going to invest and lend over $50 million into a project, we need ways to mitigate that risk by choosing the best partners — and that team in this market is Self-Help Enterprises.” 

Resident Jasmine Paz, 31, shared her story of moving into Cherry Crossing with her teenage son after losing her father and struggling with financial uncertainty. 

“I just needed to get out of the memories,” she said. “So I ended up getting blessed. I just graduated from college, and now I’m ready for my new journey. I’m just so happy to be able to share my story with you guys.”

Collishaw closed by addressing California’s ongoing housing crisis. 

“In Fresno County alone, we are currently over 35,000 affordable homes short of our housing needs for a very low-income population,” he said. “During such a crisis — the worst I’ve seen in my 45-year career in housing — there are only two categories: those who are helping and those who are not.”