After 19 years receiving Section 8 housing assistance, Glendale resident Jose Quevedo bought his first home in 2025. The purchase followed years of work with a city program that combines financial coaching, credit-building support and access to down payment assistance.
Quevedo is one of 11 graduates of Glendale’s federally funded Family Self-Sufficiency program, or FSS, over the past three years. The program pairs Section 8 participants with a personal success coach and helps them pursue goals that can include increased income, improved credit, workforce development and homeownership.
“I wanted to break that cycle. I wanted to get off of Section 8. I wanted my own,” Quevedo said.
A letter opened the door
Quevedo’s involvement began with a letter from an FSS coordinator who identified him as a strong candidate for homeownership and invited him to connect with the program. He initially questioned whether the outreach was legitimate. He ultimately responded, beginning a process centered on budgeting, credit building and setting specific financial goals.
One tool he used was a vision board, a visual representation of the future he wanted to build. The home purchase was not treated as a stand-alone transaction. It was part of a broader plan that also involved raising his income. Quevedo joined the Air Force Reserve and obtained a job at Lockheed Martin at Luke Air Force Base.
- He worked with a success coach on budgeting and credit.
- He pursued additional income through military service and employment.
- He received down payment assistance from Trellis, an FSS partner organization.
- He closed on his first home in 2025.
A small program with measurable results
Glendale officials describe FSS as a program tailored to each participant’s circumstances rather than a single standardized path. Kimberly Hall, the city’s director of Community Services, said coaches first work to understand a resident’s goals before connecting those goals to budgeting, workforce development or homeownership support.
“We would partner the resident with a success coach to better understand what the resident’s goals are,” Hall said. “Homeownership is a major part of it if the resident’s interested in that, as well as workforce development.”
| FSS result | Reported total |
|---|---|
| Graduates over the past three years | 11 |
| Graduates who became homeowners | 3 |
| Escrow funds disbursed | $89,077 |
The figures show both the reach and the limits of the effort. Three graduates became homeowners, while the city disbursed $89,077 in escrow funds to participants during the same three-year period. The available results do not establish that every participant pursued homeownership, or that homeownership was the intended endpoint for all graduates. The program also supports residents whose goals involve income growth, financial stability or employment.
What the outcome means for residents
For Quevedo, the policy result is personal: a long period of reliance on rental assistance ended with ownership of a home. His experience also illustrates the multiple steps required to make that transition possible. Coaching alone did not produce the outcome. It was combined with changes in employment, participation in the Air Force Reserve, credit and budgeting work, and outside down payment assistance.
The case places attention on the practical role of local housing programs. A mailed invitation connected Quevedo to a service he nearly dismissed. Once enrolled, the program gave him a coach, a framework for financial planning and a connection to assistance that helped him complete the purchase. Glendale’s reported record remains limited in size, but the city says the initiative has produced three homeowners and provided thousands of dollars in escrow support over three years.
