New Home for the Holidays 2023
Since 2018, the Wood and Rise Real Estate Group has been putting on an event called New Home for the Holidays. This event stemmed from the team’s passion of wanting to give back to the community in a personal way. They realized that their homes are their safe spaces and to be able to provide that feeling to someone who did not have that would make a significant impact. Now every year around the holiday season, they select a family and renovate their house in order to make it feel like a home. This year is the 5th year of the annual event.
A nomination period opens up over the summer, which includes individuals from all over the Valley nominating anyone they know who owns their home and is struggling financially, physically, or emotionally. The pool of nominees is then narrowed down to a top three, where the team meets with the families and previews their home. From there, based on the renovations needed, the intensity of the families’ needs, and the time it would take to do the renovations, the team selects one winning home and family. Then, in November each year the winning family or individual is sent away to a resort for the weekend and the Wood and Rise Real Estate Group come in with as many volunteers as possible and completely renovate the home in TWO days!
This year’s family was nominated by Matthew Fisher, a former coworker. Our 2023 New Home for the Holidays recipients Joe and Ana Feyereisen are Queen Creek residents and have been married for almost 24 years. They also have 3 sons George (22), Michael (20), and Joey (18) and a pup named Jagger. You may recognize Ana’s familiar face from the Eastmark Community Life Team where she works. Her husband Joe has faced numerous health and medical challenges over the years, which recently culminated in the amputation of his right leg below the knee earlier this year. He also has struggled with balance and mobility since another amputation of toes on his left foot and a stroke that affected his right side. Despite these hardships, Joe’s spirit has remained unbreakable. Ana has also made a huge sacrifice and has selflessly taken a leave of absence from work to provide care while Joe recovers.
The Feyereisen family was nominated because since Joe’s recent amputation, their home has become difficult to navigate due to the adjustments in his new mobility. That’s why one of the teams’ main goals is to make the home more accessible. In addition, the family has had struggles with their home’s air conditioning unit for a long time. While recovering from surgery this year, Joe has been staying in the downstairs office that houses his dialysis machine and medical bed, but the room (and several other downstairs spaces like the guest room and primary bathroom) do not have proper AC. The Wood and Rise Real Esatate Group has partnered with Burk Brothers HVAC to have a new AC unit installed as a part of this year’s project. The team is hoping that making the space more livable will take a load of stress off of Joe and Ana’s plate and provide a place for Joe, Ana, and their 3 sons to enjoy spending time together.
Wanting to get into the giving spirit and get involved? There are plenty of ways to help! This year, the home renovation will take place on the weekend of November 11 and November 12. The big home reveal will be on the evening of Sunday, November 12 around 7pm. If you are interested in helping the Wood and Rise Real Estate Group with the project this year, they will need volunteers on all of the days as well as tons of donations in order to make the event come together. Click the links below to sign up as a volunteer, donate to the Go-Fund-Me for AC repair costs, and an Amazon wish list for donations of new home goods for the family. Let’s all do some good this holiday season!