APPLETON, Wis — Soon there will be a new family moving onto Pierce Avenue in Appleton. A family that sacrificed saved and volunteered just to call 313 South Pierce Avenue home.
"The opportunity to have a home in this country is something very valuable for us,” says Rafael Laguna who’s moving in soon with his family.
The Laguna family says they volunteered 500 hours to Habitat for Humanity helping to construct their home and others houses as well, all to get this opportunity of home ownership. It’s a sacrifice and service that they hope will brush off on their elementary school aged son.
"For us it has been a blessing to be a volunteer in several houses. And that has opened our eyes to give an example of life to our son," adds Laguna.
Their new home is actually a first for Habitat for Humanity too, because local breweries helped raise money for the construction of the home through the sales of Habitat for Humanity beers that were sold at local breweries.
"It just seemed like a natural fit because the breweries are now being built within communities and kind of building a social component within the neighborhoods," says Ryan O’Toole the President of Briess Malt and Ingredients. O’Toole actually donated four thousand pounds of malt to local breweries to help get the specialty brews made.
"So it's the first time we've done something like this and we're always looking for community partners that share our values of giving back to the community," adds Amy McGowan of Habitat for Humanity.
And the Laguna family says they're beyond grateful for what those local breweries did, because while they now have a mortgage to pay, they also have the opportunity to pay it forward. Because their monthly payments go right back to Habitat for Humanity for another family to make their dreams come true, down the road.
"Other families will have homes because of the Laguna family, they all pay a zero percent mortgage and then those mortgage payments get recycled into the programs at Habitat for Humanity," says McGowan.
