June 2011

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‘A dream come true’

June 25, 2011 in First Story, Heard around Town by Hayden Homes | Permalink

Dulce Pelayo talks with her son Cristian, 5, right, as her husband, Will, behind, examines their new home’s refrigerator with his niece Friday during an ceremony dedicating the house to the family. The Pelayos’ new home was built by Bend Area Habitat for Humanity and was provided to them by the nonprofit First Story. – Rob Kerr / The Bulletin

By Megan Kehoe / The Bulletin

A picket fence. Flowers blooming in the front yard. A view of a grassy park across the street. A home smelling of fresh paint. These are images Dulce Pelayo, 26, and Will Pelayo, 28, have been dreaming of for eight months, ever since they found out they’d been selected to receive their own home from First Story. Friday, that dream became reality.

“I don’t have words to express how happy I feel today,” Will Pelayo said. “I feel really great.”

The Pelayos received the keys to a brand-new three-bedroom, two-story home on Lancaster Street in northeast Bend. This is the fifth house the local nonprofit organization, First Story, has dedicated to a low-income family in the Bend area since it was founded 13 years ago.

“When you see how much it means to the family, it really leaves you speechless,” Claire Duncan, development director with First Story, said. “It never gets old.”

The Pelayo home came with an interest-free, 30-year loan, which requires the family to pay about $600 a month, First Story Executive Director Shon Rae said.

The home required no down payment from the family.

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Wish Granters

June 13, 2011 in Community Features, Heard around Town, Playhouse Giveaway by Hayden Homes | Permalink

If you could make a Wish Come True for someone, would you?

Well, that’s exactly what the Boise based Wish Granters are doing. This non-profit organization grants wishes to adults who have terminal illnesses. What will these Wishes be? “We won’t know the answer to that until we meet with a person and ask them,” says Wish Granters Founder and Executive Director Doug Raper. “It could be to fly a family member in to see them, it could be to take their kids to DisneyLand before they are unable to, it could be a television to watch while they are home bound. It could be just about anything.”

Hayden Homes has joined ranks with Wish Granters by doing what we do best. Build! Our Newest Playhouse is on the auction block, and for a dollar you could win a chance and help make a Wish Come True for someone with a  terminal illness.

June 10-19, 2011 – Playhouse Auction & Raffle

The Wish Granters Playhouse Auction and Raffle will be located at Lowe’s on Overland Road in Boise. Tickets are $1 each. If you would like to join this effort to help terminally ill adults in the Boise area, stop by.

If you are not in the area, but still would like to help out,
Visit the Wish Granters at www.wishgranters.org to find out how.

Wall Raising

June 7, 2011 in First Story by Hayden Homes | Permalink

KENNEWICK, Wash.—A single mother and her daughter will soon have a new home after years of apartment hopping.  ‘First Story’, a non-profit agency working to give families affordable housing, is now building a home for the Hodges family.

The home will be on West 23rd Avenue in Kennewick.  The mother says she is very excited to finally have a permanent home for her daughter.

“Being able to have a foundation of a home base, a place she can grow up in and not have to worry about where we’re going to live next and what school she might have to go to next year,” says Jessica Hodges, receiving home.

This new home is expected to be built by September of this year.

‘First Story’ helps families own a home through a zero down payment and zero interested 30-year home loan.  Hodges’ home will have three bedrooms, two baths and a two-car garage.