Community unity saves woman’s house, at least for now

<figure id="attachment_8484" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8484" style="width: 389px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a class="highslide" onclick="return vz.expand(this)" href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eviction-1.jpg"… loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-8484 " title="eviction 1" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eviction-1.jpg&…; alt="" width="389" height="261" srcset="https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/evictio… 432w, https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/evictio… 300w" sizes="(max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-8484" class="wp-caption-text">Luz Maria Villanueva, Congressman Bob Filner, Lorena Gonzalez, Secretary-Treasurer AFL-CIO San Diego, and a group of supporters outside of Villanueva’s home in Bonita during a protest to save her family from eviction.</figcaption></figure>
    “El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido.” “A united people, will never be defeated.”
    That traditional Mexican chant, which is used in struggles and protests, could very well describe the community unity that helped a Latino mother and her family keep her home in Bonita.
    The woman is Luz Maria Villanueva, a psychologist who has struggled since last year to make payments in her mortgage, so Union Bank was supposed to foreclosure the house and evict the family.
    The scheduled eviction of Villanueva and her family was to take place at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, September 14. Villanueva, 49, has been working with Congressman Bob Filner to try to find a solution to this situation.
    So, Congressman Filner, after many failed attempts to work something out with the bank, organized a massive community demonstration against the eviction of the Villanueva family in particular, but against foreclosures in general.
    “One of the most important issues facing us today is protecting those who have become victims of this economy,” Filner said in a statement. “But instead of helping those who needed it most, Washington chose to bail out the big banks with hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money.  And now it is those same banks that are turning around and being unreasonable when it comes to working with homeowners to help them stay in their homes.”
    And the great support that Villanueva received from the congressman and the community, might have played a role in the bank cancelling, for now, the eviction.
    That same morning, minutes before 6 a.m., Filner told the crowd of about 100 demonstrators that the bank had called his office to call-off the eviction.
    “The bank has backed out,” Filner announced. “They got scared of us. We will be prepared. All of you who are here are an inspiration.”
    As soon as he said that, the crowd cheered, and one could hear words of support: “Viva Luz Maria!” “Save Luz Maria’s home!”
    A teary Villanueva thanked the crowd for being there: “I feel wonderful. We’ve lived 17 years in this house. I feel peace for now. I was prepared to go to jail to save my house. I didn’t expect so much support from people.”
    Indeed, there was a lot of support for this mother, whose son suffers from a rare kidney disease that needs chemotherapy.
    Filner and others were going to block the sheriff department from entering the house if the eviction had taken place. Filner said he was willing to be arrested because of this.
    Some people didn’t even know Villanueva personally, but they were there that morning to raise their voices in her favor.
    “Buying a house is part of the American Dream; losing their home is not,” said Roger Casarez, a long-time activist in the civil rights movement in San Diego. “Banks need to be more compassionate and congress members like Mr. Filner have to bring more public attention to this issue.”
    One neighbor told Villanueva: “That’s why we are here: to support you.”
    Long-time friend of Villanueva, Silvia Higareda, said that she was there because she’s seen Villanueva’s struggle to save her house: “She’s a good person, who, like many of us, is struggling financially. But she wants to make a deal with the bank and save her house.”
    Before the crowd began to disperse, chants could be heard: “Stop taking our homes!” “Stop Union Bank!” “Stop foreclosures!”