With fresh tears in her eyes, Letty Corral held the brand new keys to her very first place.

The 56-year-old, who is disabled and unable to work, has lived in Pomona for 14 years but couldn’t find a place to live after a sudden family emergency.

“It’s been a long process — I was overwhelmed,” Corral said, detailing her experiences living out of her car, in a shelter and sending out many affordable housing applications. “But I’m here today, and it’s a new beginning for us … I am finally getting what I need.”

Corral will be living with her son, 18-year-old Joshua, in a new affordable housing community now open near downtown Pomona and named for a pioneer in the labor and civil rights movements .

Officials from the Cesar Chavez Foundation and the city opened the Chris Hartmire Plaza ,

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