homeownership/vance

Tara and Justin Vance have lived in Bend for seven years, are members of Westside Church, and have three wonderful children. Justin works for Summer's Wood Floors and Tara is raising the children full-time. Their oldest, Jordan, is 10 years old and in the fifth grade. His favorite thing to do is freestyle bike riding. Just the other day he was helping his little sister Ireland (6 years old) with her bike, and he had to shout �Mom! She's riding without training wheels for the first time!� In addition to being a new bicyclist, Ireland is also lots of fun to have around the office because she has picked flowers and drawn pictures for our staff. The youngest member of the Vance family is Elijah, who is 6 months. He is a happy boy at the put-everything-in-his-mouth stage. He also has little one-sies that say �Future President,� �Future Doctor,� and �Future Rock Star.�

I had a few moments with Tara to ask her about her family's goals and hopes for the future. She told me �I look forward to being able to raise my children in Bend, for them to be part of the Westside Church community, and have a safe and stable home. I hope to raise them to be well-rounded, good-hearted and helpful adults.�

As they looked at the price of owning a home in Bend, the Vance's couldn't help but feel discouraged: �We figured we had to settle, and we're not a family that does that, but we had sort of said that we would have to just keep renting.� The Vance family had faced challenges as they have had to move twice in recent years because their landlord was selling the house. Tara said, �I'm not angry, and I totally understand where they are coming from, but it's just difficult to have to keep moving my family, to have to tell my kids 'I'm sorry that you like your room here, but we have to move.'�

I asked Tara what she would say to Habitat volunteers and donors if she could, and she told me: �It's amazing to us. Justin and I were talking about this last night. These volunteers that come out to build, and donors raising money, all for a family they haven't even met. Their generosity is just incredible. When I think about them, the feelings are just overwhelming and the words 'thank you' don't even begin to describe them, but we are so grateful.�

Elijah Vance: Ace of Hearts