Meet Khalil

It hasn't been an easy journey, but if there's something Khalil wants people to know, it's, "Don't give up. This is a land of opportunity, but you have to work hard. Not everything is easy. But you can't give up."

After earning his bachelor's degree in civil engineering in his native Afghanistan, Khalil and his wife immigrated first to Texas, then Florida, with four young children. Like friends who had immigrated with similar education, Khalil knew it was important to study and pass all his engineering certification exams in the United States. However, with a large family to support, it was also imperative to work right away. So, he did both, working 10 hour days—including most Saturdays—coming home exhausted to a family and home that needed his care, all while studying. "It was not easy," says Khalil. "It took time, but I did it. I didn't give up." 

When an engineering job with a local transit agency was offered to him in the Bay Area, Khalil hesitated. "I was thinking, 'Should I go to this area or not?' because of the housing prices." He toyed with living in Tracy, but he couldn't fathom spending hours more a day away from his family just to make the commute. 

In the end, the job and our state won out. "California is amazing, it's so beautiful. We love it. Everything—the people, the weather," Khalil says. They are just barely able to stretch their budget around rent for a three-bedroom apartment in Fremont; "Our rent is pretty high, and I know we're not able to pay more than this. If our rent is raised, we will not be able to afford it."

Plus, they have since welcomed their newest family member. Now, with an 18-year-old daughter and sons aged 14, 11, seven, and one, space has become a huge factor in addition to cost.

Both things are about to change. Soon, Khalil, his wife, and their five children will call Sequoia Grove home. It means privacy and peace for his daughter, who just started college, to focus on her studies. It means their sons can realize the dreams they've already begun having for their future bedrooms—one envisioning tacking his own art to the walls, another planning to hang colored lights in the corners. It means space to entertain their large extended family who live nearby. It means ample space for his wife ("a really good cook," according to Khalil) to prepare their favorite Afghan dishes like kabuli pulao and bulani.

For Khalil, a stable, affordable mortgage means being able "to stay in one place and not have to move every couple of years. When you have your own home, then you're comfortable that you can live in that house for a long time. When you're renting, you always think, 'I might be moving next year,' or 'The rent might increase next year,' so you cannot be comfortable." Homeownership, to Khalil, means, "My children can focus on their education. If we can afford our housing price comfortably, we can help our children be educated, start saving for their education, or whatever they need for their childhood."

"It's amazing," Khalil says. "It's like a dream."