Growing up in Northeast Ohio, Randy Varacall had always felt the allure of the coastal California lifestyle.
“I had two friends from my hometown…and they would come for Christmas and tell me how beautiful California was,” said Randy. “And of course I watched all the programs with Hollywood, and I had that vision, you know?”
After moving to California, he spent 30 years as a renter, hoping that one day he would have the opportunity to own his own home. Ten months ago, he finally found his homeownership opportunity – a 1966 Fleetwood mobile home in the Del Amo community in Long Beach.
The community’s management team made the stipulation that Randy do some repair work to the home as a requirement for moving in. A jack-of-all-trades, he had planned to fix up the home himself, but unfortunately was injured on another job. Unable to take on the extensive work, he applied for a repair program through Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles. Working with the team at Habitat, Randy was able to place a brand new, energy-efficient home and place it in the same community – at no cost to him.