Last year, our team raised and donated over $1 million through our “Sell a Home, Save a Child” program. For today’s message, we’d like to share an inspiring story about one of the organizations, and one of the young women, this money went toward.
Now that we’ve entered the new year, we’d like to talk about the contributions we made in 2018 through our “Sell a Home, Save a Child” program. We were able to raise and donate over $1 million through this program—all as part of our continued effort to help underprivileged children across the world, including those from Kenya, Haiti, and Baltimore, Maryland, to name a few.
Of course, it’s one thing to hear the amount we raised, and another thing entirely to learn about the real children we raised it for. That’s why, for today’s message, we’d like to share with you the inspiring story of Perla—a young woman whose life was forever changed by one of the organizations we collaborate with: Forward Edge.
By the time Perla was just eight years old, living with her mother was no longer an option. Her mother, an alcoholic, was extremely aggressive and generally unfit as a parent. Perla felt there was no one she could trust, so when she was sent to live with her grandmother, the adjustment was difficult.
Even then, she had to work cleaning houses and babysitting other children just to keep a roof over her head and food on her plate. In Perla’s words, she believed she had been “born to suffer.”
But when she started attending school and met the Villa Program’s director, Cheyla, things took a turn for the better. Perla learned to trust Cheyla, as well as another program worker named Gloria. She even began seeing the two as mother figures.
Unfortunately, Perla’s hardships had not yet come to an end. Her grandmother passed away when Perla was 14. “My whole world was gone,” she said of the experience.
Perla got in touch with Cheyla, and arrangements were made for her to come stay at Villa Esperanza—a safe haven for underprivileged and at-risk children. Children at Villa Esperanza are given a home, clean clothes, healthy meals, and an education. More than that, they’re given a chance.
Perla spent 10 years at the Villa, during which time she was able to graduate from school and developed dreams of owning her own beauty salon. She wants to be able to provide jobs to single women, and to help the clients who visit feel beautiful in their own skin—”With or without makeup,” Perla says. Most of all, though, Perla wants the people who come to her salon to know that they’re valuable to God.
None of this, according to Perla, would have been possible if she’d continued life in her old village. Today, Perla’s life could not be more different from what she expected it to be. And there are many more with stories like hers who have been touched thanks to the help of people like Cheyla and Gloria.
Our team is proud to be able to help organizations like Forward Edge. Every donation we’re able to make with our “Sell a Home, Save a Child” program goes toward helping young people in need, like Perla.
As we move forward through 2019, we look forward to continuing in this mission: to help give underprivileged children a chance.
If you’d like to learn more about our program, Forward Edge, or anything else, feel free to reach out to us.
And, as always, if you have any questions or would like to discuss your real estate goals, please give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
