Year in Review

Year in Review

Jan 15, 2025

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 says, “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” As we at Homes for HOPE reflect back on 2024, our prayer is that we might be regarded, first and foremost, as servants of Christ and faithful stewards of all He has entrusted to us.  

Trips 

For the first time in Homes for HOPE’s history, we took two vision trips so our partners could experience our mission firsthand and personally meet the people we’re privileged to serve. We began in February in the Dominican Republic with Esperanza where we hosted a powerful and dynamic group of women, who are leaders in multiple sectors of the building industry. We visited many incredible entrepreneurs, including Aracelis who helped reshape our perspective on what true success in business looks like. Read more of her story here. 

In June we also hosted the Sager Family Homes team in in Paraguay where they got to meet this year’s Homes for HOPE Award honoree Sonia Solis. Read how this entrepreneurial mother is caring for her family and slowly improving her home with dignity in the face of many challenges. We are so grateful for ministry partners like Diaconia who serves the people of Paraguay so faithfully! 

Prayer Breakfast at IBS 

We hosted our first ever Prayer Breakfast at IBS for about 80 attendees! It was such a blessing to gather together, pray for, and encourage each other as we seek to navigate living out our faith in the building industry. We’re elated to host our second Prayer Breakfast this year! Register soon as spots are filling up quickly… 

Celebrating Partners 

One of my favorite stories from this year is E.G. Stoltzfus’ partnership! One of the first homebuilders to support HOPE was Brent Stoltzfus and his company, E.G. Stoltzfus Homes. After Brent and his daughter Kiersten accompanied Jeff and his daughter on a trip to Ukraine in the late 1990s, Brent told Jeff, “We can do this.” Brent believed in HOPE’s mission and enlisted his company and their trade partners to build a home to generate proceeds to benefit HOPE. This was the first of 10 homes E.G. Stoltzfus Homes has built as part of the Homes for HOPE program, and they are currently completing their 11th! Kiersten now works at EG Stoltzfus Homes. She was a pre-teen when she experienced firsthand what her dad Brent did when he felt led to tell Jeff, “We can do this,” and 25 years later, they still are. 

We also had the opportunity to honor partners who have invested in our work for 10 years with our Milestone Award – Betenbough Homes, Verity Homes, and McCall Homes. What an incredible example and legacy they have established in serving people all over the world in their journey out of generational poverty! 

Our most prestigious award – The Bigelow Award – went to longtime partner Eastbrook Homes and they will be honored with a brief award presentation during the second annual Prayer Breakfast at IBS. Come join us for the celebration and fellowship! 

We rejoiced to welcome many new partners this year including Ironwood Homes, Flintrock Builders, Tower Homes, Arise Homes, David Weekley Homes, Sales Uncomplicated and many more! 

We’re also extremely grateful for all the ways industry consultants so generously share their platforms with us and advocate for us to their audiences. Thank you Shinn Builder Partnerships, Jeff Shore Consulting, Do You Convert, Blue Tangerine and Outhouse! 

Growth 

By God’s grace we were able to significantly grow our audience and set a new record in funds raised and deployed to serve people living in some of the toughest places on earth. Resilient, creative, talented, and dignified people such as Cyrille, Patrick and Aisha, Navoku, Speciose, Samson, Mery, Saidi, and many thousands more. They are why we do this work. Thank you so much for coming alongside us in 2024 to alleviate global poverty! On we go… 

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