Hayden Homes provides $10K for food program

The Sisters Kiwanis coffers were enriched at last week's meeting when Hayden Homes Vice President of Community Engagement Deborah Flagan presented a check for $10,000 to Kiwanis for their Christmas Food Program.

Kiwanis President Roger Johnson told the members, "This donation will guarantee that all our families will be taken care of."

Food bank manager Naomi Rowe, co-manager Shirley Miller, and volunteer coordinator Barbara Bott accepted the check on behalf of Kiwanis.

Hayden Homes began their philanthropic activities on a small scale one Christmas in Moses Lake, Washington, where they were building homes. Hayden comptroller Vickie Gibbs informed owner Hayden Watson there were 150 people in the community in need of Christmas baskets, so the company donated $500 to that project.

That small effort got Watson thinking about how the company could be of support in every one of the communities in which they build. Today, Hayden Homes and their nonprofit First Story have donated $13.3 million to programs in cities where they build. In Sisters, that amounts to $135,000 in donations to local organizations.

First Story has enabled 75 families throughout Oregon, Washington, and Idaho to purchase a Hayden home with a 30-year no-interest mortgage. In Sisters, one family has been able to participate in the First Story program.

Over 80 percent of Hayden employees contribute to First Story through regular payroll deduction. The company provides a 100 percent match for every employee dollar donated.

Every home purchaser is also part of the First Story effort, according to Flagan. When a home is purchased, there is a deed restriction of one-eighth of 1 percent (approximately $250) attached to the home. When the purchaser sells that home, they pay the $250, which helps fund First Story, thus making all Hayden buyers a part of providing affordable housing for someone else.

Flagan told The Nugget, "It is going to take public/private partnerships to help with affordable housing."