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).