What’s at stake?

The City of Fresno received a $5 million award from state housing officials toward the acquisition and preservation of a local mobile home park. The park’s residents had been fighting for years to keep the park open, after their owner engaged in bad faith practices to get tenants kicked out of their homes.

Years of back-and-forth struggles between the residents of a local mobile home park and its property owner seem to be over following a financial award from the state.

California housing officials awarded the City of Fresno about $5 million on Thursday toward the acquisition and preservation of La Hacienda mobile home park. The money comes as part of a new mental health and housing initiative, and ends years of legal battles between the park’s owners and tenants. 

“This project is a lifeline for a community that has long been overlooked,” said Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer in a news release Thursday. “By preserving La Hacienda, we’re preventing displacement, expanding affordable housing in Fresno, and restoring stability for families and individuals who deserve the chance to prosper. With on-site services, dedicated Veteran support, and long-term affordability, this partnership is a powerful example of what we can achieve when we invest in people, not just property.”

The funding is from a pot of $251.8 million the state disbursed Thursday as part of their Homekey+ program — a California initiative that grants awards to cities and counties to develop housing for veterans, individuals with mental health disorders, and the chronically homeless. The state said the money will go toward funding 720 affordable homes in 12 counties.

The program received a funding allocation of $2.2 billion following the passage of Proposition 1 last year.

The park will now be owned by Self-Help Enterprises — a Visalia-based nonprofit organization that has committed to keeping the park open as affordable housing.  Mariah Thompson, a senior litigator at California Rural Legal Assistance and attorney for many of the remaining park residents, told Fresnoland that the state’s funding award will be “transformative” for La Hacienda. 

“After years of neglectful mismanagement of the Park left it half-vacant and nearly resulted in its permanent closure, Self Help Enterprises is helping build a bright future for the Park,” Thompson said. “The Homekey+ funds represent the most significant investment that any owner has put into the Park in decades, if not longer. The new homes will revive the community and ensure that the Park remains a source of affordable housing. At a time when the Fresno housing crisis shows no signs of easing up, and federal funds are being slashed for veterans, the Hacienda project will provide meaningful change for veterans in the Fresno community. 

Harmony Communities did not immediately respond to comment for this story. 

How did we get here?

The $5 million Fresno received is just a drop in the bucket of the state’s total financial disbursement, but it represents so much more to the residents of the local mobile home park. 

In 2021, a deadly fire broke out in La Hacienda — then known as Trails End Mobile Home Park — sparking a years-long saga led by the property’s tenants to fight for the right to stay in their homes.

The fire, which killed a resident and gutted two homes, revealed that the park’s then-owner was operating the park illegally with an expired operating license. 

In 2022, the park saw a change in ownership to Harmony Communities, a Stockton-based property management group. Soon after, tenants sought legal representation from California Rural Legal Assistance after what they say was an aggressive attempt by Harmony Communities to intimidate residents to move out of the property so that the owner could flip it for profit. 

Attorneys for the residents pushed for years to find an outside buyer committed to maintaining the park’s affordable-housing designation.

“It’s fair to say that the owners of the mobile home park bamboozled the city and its residents and left us with a very difficult scenario, yet we didn’t walk away,” said Fresno City Council Vice President Miguel Arias in a 2024 meeting that saw the city pitch in about $3.5 toward the purchase of the park. Arias’ sentiments were felt all throughout the dais as the Fresno City Council held multiple hearings to consider raising rent and even to allow for park closure — all denied. 

Harmony Communities eventually announced bankruptcy, opening the door for the tenants for sale. 

Thursday’s announcement signals a win for the tenants, who now will see state officials pitch in to help keep the park open as affordable housing. The award will also bring 18 new mobile homes to the park, mostly designated for veterans. The new homes will help take space in the park, which has lost about half of its residents and homes gone. 

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