The Website

Well, it became clear early on that a simple blog site would not suffice once this program got underway. So I will no longer be posting blogs to this page. You can find the full website and the new blog here.

www.home-for-home.org

Please bookmark the site and check in often to see what we're up to.

Thanks, and see you at the other site.

Going Legit

Some of you have asked how to get involved financially with this program. Let me first say that I'm very honored and humbled by the notion. We have some great friends and some great support. Thank you.

So in reaction to those requests, we are forming a non-profit organization called "Home for Home Program." If people are so inclined, we will have the ability to accept donations in a few months' time. For now, you can contact me personally on how to donate. We will be routing any donations through my father's (Jon) church in Snohomish. The gifts and donations will be tax deductible.

When we started, we knew we were supposed to just go for it. We write the checks, pay for the airfare and hotel, even when we can't afford it. So far, it has had the reverse effect on our finances. Somehow, some way, it just ends up working. It's so fun to watch God follow through on His promise when we follow through with ours.

With that said, accepting donations may be part of God's 'working out the details.' We probably won't ever do any traditional types of fundraising. This is our commitment and our step of faith. If people like you want to come alongside us with financial support, we will accept it and thank God for how He is moving through this process.

Thanks again, everyone, for your gracious support in this endeavor.

October 1st Build Trip

Well, October 1st is the day our Home for Home Program truly begins. It's our first trip to Mexico since making the commitment to build one home for the homeless for every home we build in the U.S. We are super excited about this trip. Once we have the name of the family we will be building for, this trip will take their name. For the Home for Home Program, this is the home built for the one we sold at 211 W Maci Court, Ellensburg.

For me personally, this is a big trip on many levels. If you know me, then you most likely know my brother Jeremy and his wife Camille. This trip will happen exactly one month before Jeremy and Camille set off on a huge love project that will take them to Bali, Indonesia (check out their blog - Surfing, Serving, and Aiming at Eternity). I wanted the chance to do one of these Mexico trips with them before they left, and now I get the chance. Also, my wife will join me on this trip. I didn't want to get too many of these trips under my belt without my wife experiencing one with me. This will be my second trip, and her first. My mom and dad will be there too, which is really exciting. My mom has had to listen to my dad, for almost two years now, talk about his vision of building homes in Mexico. Now she gets to experience it first hand. It will be my dad's third trip, and my mom's first. I'm also excited that my buddy Steve Waldeck will be with me. He was with me on my first trip, and is part of one of my men's Bible study groups here in Ellensburg. He is awesome to have around no matter what you're doing, even if he uses toy hammers. And lastly, I'm stoked to meet and get dirty with someone new in the name of serving those less fortunate. His name is Don Mcrayde, and he is tagging along with Steve. It should be a good group.

So if you're the praying type, please look over the names below and keep us in your prayers. We will be in Mexico October 1-4. Please pray for safety, health, and strength for the team. Thanks.

Chad and Jamie Youngquist

Jon and JoAnn Youngquist

Jeremy and Camille Youngquist

Steve Waldeck

Don Mcrayde

You can be sure that there will be stories posted when we get back.

Build Four

We are strongly considering making a trip to Mexico over Thanksgiving weekend - and we may be building two homes (builds 3 and 4). Thanksgiving is an awesome time for a trip like this for many reasons. If we plan to build two homes on one trip, we're going to need some help. We would love for you to come along. If you are interested, please email me.

chad@pillardevelopment.us

Build Three

Apparently, the good Lord loves putting the less fortunate people of this world up in a new home, free of charge. Since our decision to move forward with our Home for Home Program, it's as if the market has changed. Today, we signed a contract on a presale of one of our spec homes in the neighborhood we developed. Chalk a new home up for someone in Mexico!

I used to think that putting a presale deal together was just another day at the office. I no longer take that kind of thing for granted and I'm well aware of all that one transaction does to help our company out now. The best thing though, is that my first thought was not of how it will benefit us. My first thought was "I am so stoked. I'm not sure how, but I need to figure out a way to make it to Tijuana for a third time before the year is up!"

So stay tuned. The meat of this blog will be our trips. October 1 marks the first one. October 22 marks the second. The third is up in the air. If you want to come, let me know. Maybe I can plan the next one around your schedule.

Builds One and Two

We sold two homes during the process of our decision to implement the Home for Home Program. We knew that there would have to be a line drawn somewhere because we would probably always have some home somewhere in the construction/sale process. So rather than wait for a clean cutoff, we decided to back-date it so that the two homes that sold during our decision making process would be part of the program.

So we get to build two homes for people that don't currently have one. I am in the process of setting up a trip for early October. There is also a definite trip set up for late October. These two trips will even up the score on our Home for Home Program.

Stay tuned for more information about names of recipients, dates, and times of the trips. Also, if you want to go with us, let me know. There is always space available.

You can contact me at chad@pillardevelopment.us

Baja Christian Ministries

Some of you are probably wondering what it is we'll be doing on our trips to Mexico. I was going to post pictures of our last trip and explain the homes in detail, but Baja Christian Ministries (BCM) has a great site dedicated to their program. I have included the link at the bottom of this post so you can familiarize yourself with their process, which will become ours.

For the foreseeable future, we will be working with them to make our Home for Home Program a reality. We are very excited about cultivating our relationship with not only BCM, but with Baja in general. There is need all over the world for healthy living environments for those less fortunate. Logistically speaking, Baja Mexico is a great place for us to maintain a steady impact on humanity. The homes can be built in a weekend, and the trip to San Diego and Tijuana is short enough for it to make sense. We're not sure where in the world (literally) our Home for Home Program will take us in the coming years, but for now, we will focus on Baja.

Go check out their website to get more acquainted with what we will be doing, and if you're on facebook, go to their site and become a fan.

Have a great day.

Website

www.bajachristian.org

facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chino-Hills-CA/Baja-Christian-Ministries-BCM/80424946106

Bank Error In Your Favor, Collect One Home For the Homeless

If you read my personal blog, then you've heard this story. It's a big story for us, though, and it directly relates to our Home for Home Program.

When my dad and I made the commitment to the Home for Home Program, we knew we wouldn't have the means to pull it off all by ourselves. We just knew we needed to commit to it. The basic thought, which was explained in the last post, was that if God wanted this to happen, He would figure out the details. Apparently, God was waiting for several months for us to make the commitment, because what happened the day after we made the commitment, blew us both away.

The back story.

Last Fall, our land development company had to renew a sizable development loan. It happened at the height of my panicked state, and it got somewhat ugly at times between me and the bank. We finally came to terms with new loan conditions and a successful renewal, but the fee that we incurred was hefty given the then current state of our finances. The only good part was that the bank allowed us to defer the payment of that renewal fee until the maturity on the loan.

So we did all this in November. We made our commitment to the Home for Home Program on June 29th of this year. Just over 24 hours later, the bank called me to tell me that they had made some errors on the loan paperwork and that they weren't going to charge us our renewal fee when the loan matures. Since there are three partners in the development company, the savings is split three ways. My dad and I are two of the principals, and the amount of the savings for us two is exactly the cost to build one Baja home.

You can take that in for a second if you want, or you can do what I did when I heard the news. I giggled and shook my head a little. Who was I to take so long questioning how I would make the program work? It was like God wanted to tell us so bad he has the whole thing covered, but was waiting for us to be obedient and just go for it.

I'm convinced this is only the first of possibly hundreds of amazing stories that come about from this program. I hope you follow along as I chronicle all of them. I hope in some way you benefit from this program along with the happy homeowners who buy our homes and the happy homeowners who get one for free because they had no home to start with.

The Program

Well, here we are. It's 2009. It's quite possibly the worst housing market we will see in our lifetimes. And for what this blog is dedicated to, that might be the most exciting part.

My name is Chad Youngquist. My father, Jon, and I own and operate Pillar Development, LLC, a small home builder in Ellensburg, WA. We formed the company in 2005 at the height of the building boom. We started our first home in February of 2005, and by December 31, 2005, we had built, sold, and closed 20 homes. To say it was exciting is to understate the situation. It went from just the two of us in 2005 to eight of us by 2007. Things were plugging along great when the market crashed in 2008. Now it's just the two of us again, with one part time laborer.

In early 2008, we began to get nervous. By late 2008, it was full-fledged fear (I might be speaking out of turn for my dad, but I think he felt the same). We had created a mountain of debt through unsold homes and large land development projects. It appeared as if we would lose everything. Then, in Fall of 2008, everything changed. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and I found myself on my knees crying out to God for something to change. He answered. No, the debt didn't miraculously go away. But the fear did. I chose to stop fearing what I can't control, and with God's help, I began to climb out of my rut. I shared my experiences my father along the way, and now together we are in a completely different place emotionally.

It's been eight months since I made the decision to stop fearing. And it's been a year now of not knowing how in the world we're still in business. I recently had to stop and acknowledge that we are still in business for a purpose. If we're not bankrupt by now, then who's to say we ever will be? There is a plan in place that we are supposed to be a part of, and I want to share it with you.

I was recently inspired by TOMS shoes. You may have seen their TV spot. They are a shoe company that for every pair of shoes they sell in the U.S., they put a pair of shoes on the feet of someone in a developing country. My brother and I were reveling in how cool that idea is, and we were wondering what we could ever do to impact humanity in such a cool way. I had just returned from a long weekend trip to Tijuana, Mexico where we built a small home for a large family living in the equivalency of a walk-in closet. I told my brother, "We could build a house in Mexico for every house we build in Ellensburg." We laughed a little about it, then moved on. When I was finished talking with my brother, my mind kept drifting back to what I had said to him. The days drug on, then the weeks. I couldn't stop thinking about it. How in the world could we afford to do such a thing? Where would we find the time? I continued to dismiss the notion, discouraged by the logistics of it all.

I'm a little slow sometimes, and this time was no different. I had already acknowledged that our company still exists through powers outside of our control. It took me three or four weeks to realize that adopting that same principal for a home-for-home idea was the reason I couldn't mentally forget about it. If we serve a God that can enable Pillar Development to still exist, then we serve a God that will figure out the details of the home-for-home idea if we just commit to doing it.

So here we go. We're partnering with Baja Christian Ministries and local pastors, churches, and orphanages in Tijuana, Mexico to make our Home for Home Program come about. The blog posts that will follow this one will be some exciting stories about how the program has already hit the ground running - and not because of anything we did! We're already committed to two homes before the year's end! I hope to post frequently. I will share with you what the homes consist of, when we'll be going, what happened while we were there, and plans for the future.

I want to say three things now so that I don't have to say them again (I'm using my TV commercial disclaimer voice).

1. The cost to build these homes in Mexico is in no way built into the price of our Pillar Development homes.

2. This is not a marketing gimmick or a sales pitch to make potential customers feel warm and fuzzy about buying homes from us. The customers will inevitably find out, but it will be because the sale transaction has already occurred, and we will tell them that their purchase is putting a roof over someone else's head. And depending on the customer, we will invite them to go along on the Mexico build.

3. You may see a link someday on our website about the Home for Home Program, but for now, we will not use it in any advertising. We feel that would take away from the spirit of what we're doing, and it would feel like trying to regain control of our situation - something we're not really interested in at this point. We're actually more curious about how God will spread the word.

Okay, enough of the disclaimer. We are extremely excited about this new chapter in our lives and business, and we hope you follow along with us (and maybe go to Mexico with us).