With the shortage of affordable homes for first time buyers in Vermont, my wife, Jessica, and I were struggling to find something in our budget. Between the high interest rates, soaring home values, and a lack of equity we were beginning to lose hope after searching over a year and making multiple offers. With Jess working full time as a respiratory therapist at UVM medical center, and my full-time employment at the Air National Guard, we didn’t have the ability to settle in the cheaper areas of the state like her hometown in Waterford. Somehow between our two incomes, we could barely afford the median home value.

Hearing our plight on a Drill Weekend with the Guard, Steven Heffernan offered to build my wife her dream home below the price we were seeing for fixer-uppers in the area. We were blown away by his generosity and hesitant to accept because he was going to front everything and sell at the end. He was willing to accept all the risk just to help us get a place of our own.

We owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to Heff that we in our young age will struggle to ever pay back. I realize he doesn’t have the means to do this for everyone in Vermont, but it is a direct reflection of his character and his passion to help others when able. I truly believe he would carry that conviction with him to the state Legislature to help all Vermonters whenever possible.

Andrew Borgens

Monkton