Not too long ago our seemingly happy life took a turn; my husband was seriously injured at work, and it took over a year to get workers’ compensation. Since he was our main source of income, this had a huge impact on our finances, and we used all our savings and retirement to cover his medical costs and get by day-to-day.

My husband’s injury, plus all the financial pressure put a real strain on him and on our marriage. Our credit was ruined, we had no savings, no retirement, and we were forced to move because our landlord decided to increase our rent. Our lives were falling apart.

Some people in our community heard about our story and offered to help us find a home we could own, that would suit our family of five’s needs. They bought a house that we picked out, and we were able to move into a home that would eventually be ours instead of continuing to throw money away on a rental. We no longer had to worry about someone upping the rent. We made our mortgage payments not to a bank, but to our new friends. They saved us. They gave us hope that we could start over, be a family again, and get back on our feet. It definitely helped our marriage, and we went from being angry and stressed to thinking about how we could move forward.

These new friends transformed our lives at a time when we couldn’t pick ourselves up and rise above our circumstances. We love carrying on their legacy by looking for opportunities in our community to be generous to those around us. What joy!