Sept. 28, 2018 was a day the Sopels will remember for the rest of their lives.
Chris and Amanda, along with their kids Riley and Emma, were the lucky recipients of a free house, courtesy of the Welcome Home, Pay It Forward project headed by Ridgeline Roofing and 20 other orgainzations, when they heard their names called during the Prince George Cougars' home opener at the CN Centre.
It’s now nearly nine months since that moment, but the feeling of excitement and relief remains the same.
“The first thing is security,” said Chris to PrinceGeorgeMatters. “It’s something we weren’t going to be able to do on our own. After medical issues and having two kids, it just wasn’t in the cards anymore and it complicated things further for us. [...] I don’t know that anybody could actually know how much they’ve done for us. It’s something that’s completely unpayable.”
To highlight a big milestone, the Sopels were able to see the blueprint plans for their new home, which will be built on Carney Street, unveiled at a barbecue event hosted by Ridgeline Roofing and all the contributing companies to the project this week.
Regardless of what comes with the home, amenities or otherwise, the Sopels are forever grateful for the generosity of the community.
“There were three other families, so I was at the point of being unsure,” said Amanda, who has faced a day-to-day struggle with Crohn's disease for nearly 10 years, which prevents her from working. “It was a wave of emotions that night [Sept. 28]. Just a huge weight lifted off of our shoulders; it just wasn’t feasible for us to save for a down-payment. Living on one income and having two young children, it’s just been a lot. So it’s really heart-warming and a dream come true.”
The Sopels’ son Riley, the oldest of their children, has also been diagnosed with autism, which had them concerned about how they were going to balance working and raising their children.
Chris explained before finding out they were getting the house, he and Amanda were thinking of investing every dime they had into their kids.
“We had a conversation prior to that night [Sept. 28] to pretty much giving up chasing for a house and putting our kids first. So we were destined to be in the rental circuit for a long time, but we’re very grateful for everybody’s support.”
The designs for the Sopel’s new home showed a single-floor residence with plenty of storage space and lots of landscaping, but the challenge the project faces now is getting the go-ahead to build.
“We hope to build this very shortly,” said Chris Wiebe, Project Lead and Managing Partner with Primus Electric. “The drawings have all been submitted now for the development permit, which is where the City gets to have their say, so now I get to try to play nice with the City to actually get our way and move on with the actual building project. We needed to build a society to actually get to this place, but we are now with our [Foundations of Hope Community Builders] society applying for charitable status, so that’s something everybody can look forward to hopefully by the end of the year.”
Wiebe added he and his team picked the Sopels because of how much respect they’ve earned from the community, calling them ‘fighters’ in their day-to-day lives.
He hopes after this project is complete that the family will continue to pay it forward, as is the message behind the Welcome Home, Pay It Forward initiative.
The Foundations of Hope Community Builders society is also reaching out to the public for financial support so they can give more homes to deserving families in Prince George.
Interested residents can message the Welcome Home, Pay It Forward Facebook page, or contact Ridgeline Roofing directly.
