LAMONT, Calif. -- In this town with reports of multiple families cramming into single-family homes or living in garages, it's a big deal any time new housing is built.

Enter Rancho Lindo, a 44-unit rental community for low-income farm workers unveiled to the public Wednesday morning off Habecker Road.

The demand was so high, the community reached full occupancy a month before construction was completed this summer, according to Tom Collishaw of Self-Help Enterprises.

"Everything's brand new, and who's not going to like somthing that looks new?" Fabiola Cid, one of the residents, said as she showed off her three-bedroom townhome.

"It has all the services and resources we can use to improve our lives, and gives our kids the tools to succeed," Ramiro Magana, another resident, said.

The energy-efficient community was developed in a townhome style, to give the appearance that residents are walking into a dignified home of their own and gives them a sense of community.

"You often have much much less than many of us, and yet your labors provide us with bounty," Sister Marie Francis Schroepfer of Goodwill Industries told the residents in attendance at today's ribbon-cutting ceremony. "Shouldn't you have a safe and healthy environment in which to live?"

Self-Help Enterprises, a non-profit out of Visalia, and Sister Marie Francis have been working for about 10 years to have Rancho Lindo built, but for years, Lamont's utilities district did not have the sewer capacity to accomodate the complex.

The rest of that time was spent securing financing, much of it coming through loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"We're providing deep rent subsidies to all the tenants so that the rents will not exceed 30 percent of their income," said Mike Carnes of the USDA's rural development division. "It makes it affordable and makes these kinds of projects really work in the rural area."

Rancho Lindo is just the start for the work by Self-Help Enterprises in Lamont.

It has set aside the lot next door for around 35 houses for first-time homebuyers who make a commitment to help build the home.

"There is no down payment requirement because they're doing that with their sweat equity," Collishaw said. "That's why we call it self-help."

12 homebuyers have already been identified for those homes. If you would like more information, you can call (559) 651-1000.