Five Questions
Five Questions for Huber Trenado,
home ownership advocate

As one of seven children born to Mexican immigrants, Huber Trenado realized early in life that if he did not want to struggle like his family he needed to seriously consider education. Trenado graduated in June from MetWest High School, a public school in Oakland, Calif., serving fewer than 150 students. MetWest students take traditional college preparatory classes three days a week, but head out into the “real world” the remainder of the week, participating in mentored internships. Before receiving his diploma, he crafted one final lesson for the teachers who had taught him so many lessons of their own.

For his senior thesis project, Trenado organized a homeownership symposium designed to educate his teachers on the financial benefits and process of buying a home in Oakland. He got the idea as a campaign intern for Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente’s unsuccessful mayoral bid.

Trenado followed up on research that showed a strong correlation between people who did not intend to vote in the upcoming mayoral election and those who did not own their own homes. Perplexed by these findings, Trenado said he became obsessed with finding a solution to Oakland’s home ownership problem (See “Come Together,” by Naomi Dillon). ASBJ intern Sarah Karlin spoke with Trenado, who plans to study political science at the University of California, Berkeley, about his very personal senior project and his hopes for owning a home of his own.

A majority of Oakland residents do not own their own homes. Why do you feel that increased homeownership will help create a better community?

I’ve been a witness to the cycle of both hopelessness and violence in Oakland. I believe that if people own their homes they tend to take more ownership and handle problems unselfishly. I believe that if everyone owned their homes, crime rates in Oakland would go down.

Your project focused on helping Oakland teachers purchase their own homes. Why did you decide to specifically focus your project on teachers?

Teachers tend to have community leadership characteristics. At least with the teachers I’ve had, they’ve all been really active community leaders. This project is also dedicated to teachers because they are the main community that has supported me and guided me throughout my life.

How would you describe your relationship with your teachers at MetWest high school? What effects have teachers had on your life?

Teachers have shown me a different lifestyle, that I don’t have to live the way people around me do. People who live in my community get trapped because they feel that is the only life they can live. They feel hopeless, and that is why education and homeownership are very important to me.

You went to a high school where students complete internships in addition to taking traditional classes. What impact did interning have on your high school education?

I think internships are great opportunities to put learning into practice. Having a hands-on experience is very important to noticing patterns and different learning styles. Personally, I feel like without internships I would have been much [more] closed-minded about trying different things. Internships have had a great positive impact on me.

With housing costs continuing to rise, what prospects do you have for your own ability to own a home in the future?

Well, I hope that by that time prices will go down. I’m not very optimistic though, with the population rate so high. I believe that it will probably be even more difficult to buy homes in urban areas such as the San Francisco Bay Area.

FROM: http://www.asbj.com:80/HomePageCategory/Online%20Features/FiveQuestions.aspx