This is a picture of my house and my wonderful backyard. When I walked into this house two years ago I knew this was the one. It had everything I love in a house: history, character, great places to read books, and green space in the back. But now I'm praying that God will give me the opportunity to give it up.
One of the reasons we bought this house was because it had livable space in the basement that we could use to help refugee families. For the last year we've shared our home with a terrific family from Cuba so that they could save a downpayment on a house. Home ownership is one of the most effective ways to lift families out of the cycle of poverty. And I am happy to say that my friends are now homeowners. Which is great, except that my house is a little too quiet and a little too lonely and a little too big for just us. But there is something even bigger on the horizon.
In the next couple of weeks the little non-profit agency my husband and I run will be making an offer on a five unit apartment building that will become BRYAN HOUSE. This building will allow us to to help move multiple refugee families into home ownership every year -- fulfilling a long time dream of ours and honoring Rick's brother who passed away last December.
But that is only the first step. We're dreaming of multiple houses and multiple people groups. In order to make the dream of homeownership possible for more people, we need to sell our house. We have the option of moving to a two-flat with Rick's Mom, which would free up half of our current mortagage payments to go directly to this project. And I can't wait for that to happen!
Though I love my house, I'm praying that God will give me the chance to give it up in order to help my friends have a reasonable future for their children. The house is on the market now. It's a tough time to sell, but we're hopeful. If you know anyone looking for a great house on the West side of Aurora with lots of history, lots of character, great places to read books, and a beautiful green backyard, please let me know. Without costing them any extra money, the person who buys this house will actually be helping countless families move into homeownership. Now that's bang for your buck!
Check out http://www.bryanhouse.org/
1 comment:
I remember when you bought that house and all the work you and your family put into it to help a family. I also remember talking about the dream of helping so many families become homeowners...It's only been 2 years Desiree and God has done so much for the families in your life and those still to come!
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