On top of that, there's been the ongoing expense of the day-to-day running of Bryan House (mortgage, insurance, utilities, etc.) So events like this are tremendously important. Finally, we are pleased to announce that a portion of the auction's proceeds will be going toward our plan to reproduce the Bryan House model & establish Emmanuel House (named after Bryan's middle name). This second facility will be located on the East Side of Aurora through a partnership with Community 4:12, Community Christian Church and many others.

Please check out our 2009 Commerative brochure to see the local & national organizations choosing to use their businesses in generous ways to support Bryan House:
Download the 2009 Commerative Auction Brochure by clicking here.

Bryan House Welcomes New Refugee Family From Iraq
Family profiles of all of the families currently living at Bryan House & saving toward a better future can be found in our 2009 Spring/Summer Newsletter - Click Here.

ORDER YOUR PERSONALIZED/ENGRAVED BRICK TODAY!
It's not too late! The first round of bricks has been ordered--but we can still add your's if you act soon! We are building a wall around a memorial garden in Bryan's memory that will be a quiet peaceful place in the backyard of Bryan House for the refugee families that live there. Your personalized brick can be installed in the wall of this garden, which honors both the memory of Bryan Guzman as well as the commitment of our donors--without whom this project would not be possible! The wall is also symbolic of the collaboritive nature of this project--so even if you don't care about the recognition--we still would REALLY love for you to be a part of this so that the Guzman family & refugee families see how many people are loving & supporting them.   Click Here to Download Brick/Sponsorship Form. If you're already a sponsor, just check that box & fill out the bottom part of the form. To become a new  sponsor, simply fill out the form. Monthly sponsorships start at just $13/mo & yearly sponsorships start at $156/year. THANK YOU!

BRYAN HOUSE ON FRONT PAGE OF CHICAGO TRIBUNE METRO SECTION-Click here

BRYAN HOUSE PURCHASED ON DECEMBER 18, 2007!!!
One year and one week after we lost our beloved Bryan, a house that will help hundreds of refugees from around the world bears his name and carries on his spirit of reaching out and giving to others. Click here to see a picture of the beautiful, brick, 5-unit apartment building that is now called Bryan House. Thanks to the generous support of so many of you, we were able to make a sizeable downpayment and we are able to cover the mortgage and insurance through your monthly sponsorships. But one of the units is unsponsored, which means we need 20 more days sponsored in order to have the buffer in operating expenses that we will need for the eventual & inevitable repairs. Please consider sponsoring a day or more of rent. Sponsorship levels start at just $13/mo. & have a huge impact on helping families build financial stability & move out of the class of the working poor in a responsible & dignified way.
Click here to sponsor a refugee family.

Concert Raises $2,500--Thanks to Open Jar Media for some incredible video clips!
And special thanks to Dan Guzman (click here for video), The Young Sea (see video) & Company of Thieves (see video) for creating an incredibly special night of music in remembrance of Bryan & in celebration of what we are all doing together in his honor.  Also visit: www.myspace.com/theyoungsea &  www.myspace.com/companyofthieves

"A SONG FOR BRYAN HOUSE" RAISES FUNDS/AWARENESS
Last year a group of GREAT local artists pitched in to record a version of Leanard Cohen's classic song "Hallelujah" as a benefit for Bryan House.  This was one of Bryan's favorite songs & a truly wonderful collaboration.  Listen to Radio Interview w/ Rick & Desiree + Live performance of "Hallelujah" on WONC - Click Here.

PICTURS FROM PAST EVENTS:
Click Here for pictures from the event & links to our major contributors

Also a very special Thank-you to Peter Hoffman for a GREAT full-page artilce & photo essay that appeared on the front-page & "Storyteller" section of the Aurora Beacon & the full front page of the Fox Valley [Naperville] Sun - Page 1 Page 2

ABOUT BRYAN HOUSE:
From the beginning, Bryan and the entire Guzman family have been involved with the formation and development of the TRAF vision. To honor the memory of Bryan Emmanuel Guzman, who passed away in a tragic accident on December 9, 2006, (read article in Chicago Tribune) the family and friends of Bryan have begun a memorial fund to establish Bryan House (read front-page articles in Chicago Tribune & Aurora Beacon & Fox Valley Sun). In the first year over $65,000 was raised from hundreds of contributors and friends, making it possible to purchase & establish Bryan House almost exactly a year after Bryan's memorial service. Additionally, over 50 families and individuals have stepped up to sponsor 1, 2, 3 or even 7 days of rent each month. Bryan House is a five-unit home located on the West side of Aurora. As described below, it is estimated that over the initial 30-year mortgage period of Bryan House, over 500 refugees--from countries all around the globe--will be blessed and impacted in a truly meaninful way through the establishment of this home. While the response has been tremendous so far, ongoing support of Bryan House will be critical to its success in helping these refugee families to improve their own futures.

The ongoing costs of maintaining Bryan House are being supported by dozens of generous sponsors. By leveraging other resources, the cost of sponsoring a day of rent for one family will be only $13. TRAF is asking those who are able to consider paying for a day of rent per month ($13) for a refugee family; or a day of rent for all three families living in Bryan House ($39/mo.); or a week of rent ($91) per month for a family. All contributions are 100% tax deductible and will go directly to Bryan House (TRAF's overhead is miniscule). In the meantime, any questions can be sent to rick@trafonline.com and sponsorships/donations can be made through this website by clicking here.

How it works: This next phase of TRAF's outreach to refugee families in the Aurora area involves a simple plan to assist working families move themselves into homeownership--thereby improving their quality of life and the future prospects of their children. Homeownership not only gives parents an asset to invest and take pride in, but it also dramatically increases opportunities for the family and their children. The equity that a family builds up through homeownership can pay for college educations, small business ventures and other opportunities that might not otherwise be possible. In fact:

Homeownership Builds Successful Children (compared to children of renters of the SAME age, income & race): Children of homeowners are:
25% more likely to graduate high school;
116% more likely to graduate college;
And have higher Math & Reading scores

Homeownership builds Wealth for Low Income Families:
Homeowners are 12 times wealthier than renters of SAME income, age & race; and
Accumulate an avg. of $44,000 in home equity in first 10 years of homeownership

Homeownership Builds Stronger Communities:
Homeowners are 28% more likely to repair or improve their homes;
15% more likely Vote; and Homeowners will live in the same community 4 times longer than renters--providing both community & family stability.

For more statistices & source information - Click Here

The biggest barrier to homeownership for most people is savings. Most refugee families have several barriers to being able to save. Many families send money to support relatives in their home countries or areas to which other family may have fled. Often refugees do this on wages that are low to begin with because the jobs they can attain are mostly unskilled jobs due to limited English skills, a lack of familiarity with the culture here in America, and sometimes a lack of significant work experience (refugees are not entitled to hold legal employment in most countries where the camps are located and many of them have been living in these camps for years—sometimes decades).

Co-founders Rick & Desiree Guzman already helped one small refugee family from Cuba to save & buy a home by allowing them to live with them in their home for one year. The $900/month they paid in rent was invested for them through an interest bearing account. Bryan House also leverages a government matched savings program for refugees that is operated by World Relief. In this way, the family will be able to save $10,800 + interest and the government will match $4,000 of that for a total of $15,000 in one year—all simply by leveraging existing resources.

Friends and family of Bryan Guzman are making this next phase of the mission possible through their contributions to Bryan House, a multi-family home leveraging additional, existing resources to expand the program to help several families per year. Eventually, the establishment of Bryan House will mean that over 100 refugee families will be moved into homeownership over the lifetime of a typical 30-year mortgage, which could profoundly impact the lives of an estimated 500 refugee family members.

TRAF also hopes that some of these families might even eventually purchase multi-family homes or consider opening up their own homes in the same way to further impact even more people. Over time, TRAF will continue to develop new resources and help others leverage their existing resources to help morer families to help themselves. This could involve training or even small matching grants to assist families who want to finish their basements or add a basic bathroom in order to do the same thing. Regardless of the approach or eventual scale, TRAF is determined to do as much as possible now—with existing resources—and to dream big for the future!