An Impact Report for Q1 2022

New Story supporters,

I’m a believer in the power of momentum. Wins bring more confidence and passion to a team, which helps create more wins. The hardest part of nearly everything is getting started. It’s why we say, “dream big, start small” at New Story.

Every team needs people in their corner to help them gain and grow momentum. Our donors are those people for New Story. Your support helps us turn small starts into massive achievements.

You helped us make Q1 our most successful financial quarter ever. We raised $7.5 million, which will support our team’s growth and put more families into homes.

We also made incredible progress towards our goal of creating a financially sustainable path to homeownership for low-income families. We’re acquiring more land in El Salvador and Mexico to keep up with the growing demand for our micro-mortgage model.

Your backing helped us hire a CFO this quarter, Jason Jumonville. Jason was previously at Maxwell, a SaaS mortgage startup, where he helped scale the company from $500,000 to $30 million+ in revenue and saw the team grow from five employees to 300. I’m excited to have Jason help us advance our mission forward.

Thank you for encouraging us to dream bigger and build momentum every quarter. Your generosity is changing lives every day.

Onward,

‍

160 Families Moved Into New Homes

Escuinapa, Mexico: 21
Tijuana, Mexico: 28
Nuevo Cuscatlán 2, El Salvador: 75
REALL Projects: 13
El Zonte, El Salvador: 8
Morelos, Mexico: 16

‍

Community Spotlight

Nuevo Cuscatlán 2, El Salvador

We expanded our partnership with the Ministry of Housing of El Salvador by building 131 more homes in Nuevo Cuscatlán. The incredibly generous Providence Homes team, led by Bill Cellar, funded the construction of Nuevo Cuscatlán 2. As of the end of Q1, 75 of those homes are complete with families moved in.

The government backed an urban expansion project and gave us land to develop affordable housing for at-risk families in the area. Due to the dense area, this community features our first two-story design.

We worked with local urban planners to build a community that would thrive during the continued growth of the area. As the community integrates with the city, the property value of the homes increases and helps families build generational wealth.

‍

Community Spotlight

El Zonte, El Salvador

We partnered with Bitcoin Beach and the Ministry of Housing of El Salvador to build eight homes entirely financed by bitcoin.

Every family supported by this project is unbanked, meaning they have no access to traditional loans. Prior to owning a home in El Zonte, they spent hours traveling to pay for bills in person using cash, pen, and paper. The manual process lacks transparency and often leads to predatory practices.

Now, families are paying their mortgage in seconds without ever leaving their homes.

Blockchain-based mortgages are giving unbanked families a transparent and secure way to build creditworthiness they couldn’t build before. Families convert their cash into bitcoin at communal ATMs and store the funds in their secure wallets on their phones. They can then make digital payments, track their finances, and spend more time pursuing their dreams.

This eight-home pilot is going so well that we’re now working to expand the community to 100 more homes. We’re excited to see this financially sustainable path to homeownership break the cycle of poverty for a community.

‍

Ismael

El Zonte, El Salvador

Watch the story on TikTok

Ismael is a 19-year-old entrepreneur, surf instructor, and student. He’s also a new homeowner paying his mortgage with bitcoin.

“It’s really interesting to see how this technology is going to change the world. I can now make a house payment in one second,” he says.

Until recently, Ismael lived in El Zonte, El Salvador, in a galvanized metal home held together with wooden sticks. He’s the head of his household and one of many unbanked residents in El Salvador.

Ismael took a business course to help him discover ways to make a living. One day, he was at the beach and saw a man selling shaved ice. Ismael asked him where he got the ice from. The man shared he purchased it at La Libertad, a city more than a dozen miles away. Ismael immediately saw an opportunity and bought a freezer from a friend for 200 USD.

Ismael now sells ice and gets paid in bitcoin. He’s also going to school, learning English, and growing his other business, Underwater, which sells t-shirts inspired by the ocean and surfing in El Zonte.

Ismael is gaining financial literacy, even working with Bitcoin Beach to teach unbanked locals how to manage their own bitcoin wallets. “Many people are coming to El Salvador who are giving us opportunities to have a house, have a job, and teach us more about technology and their culture. Bitcoin is not only a coin. Bitcoin is freedom for my community.”

Check out the coverage by 60 Minutes to learn more about Ismael and the bitcoin-backed community in El Salvador.

‍

Team Update

Thank you for enabling us to bring on four remarkable team members in Q1. One of the best ways you can support our mission is by helping us find top talent with a passion for impact. You can share our current career opportunities here.

Q&A with Jason Jumonville, CFO

What attracted you to New Story?

Pretty quickly, I realized this was a special group of people. Talented, ambitious, mature beyond their years, and very authentic. This was a team I wanted to be part of and knew we would accomplish great things.

What core problems are you working to tackle in your first year at New Story?

We are in a prime position to scale the organization and our impact. Much of my focus is twofold. First, it’s to create a strong financial strategy to support this scale and ensure resources are deployed in the most effective manner. Second, is working with our impact team to build the use of financing into our strategy. Through financing, we will increase our options and capability to acquire land, aggregate construction costs, and create working repayment plans for families.

What does a dream Saturday look like for you?

Living in Colorado, our family has the opportunity for some amazing weekends. My ideal Saturday would start with waking up in the Colorado wilderness and cooking breakfast tacos over an open fire. We’d explore, hike a nearby mountaintop, try our luck fly fishing, and lay around in our hammocks. At the end of the day heading home, we’d likely stop in one of the mountain towns at a favorite pizza joint.

‍

Let’s hang out — beyond the screen

If you’re interested in any of these opportunities, please contact annie@newstorycharity.org.

Attend the NYC screening of our documentary, No Small Dreams

On May 4th, some of our closest supporters like you are attending an exclusive screening of our documentary, No Small Dreams. The 30-minute movie shows how your generosity is empowering our team and changing lives. Learn more and check out the trailer here.

Join a vision trip

This summer, we’re taking a select group of donors to Mexico and El Salvador to see the work you’re supporting. We’d love for you to consider joining us for a trip to the field!

Host a private event in your city

We’ve seen some donors invite their network to join them in the fight to end global homelessness. Our team is available to help you make a private event easy and impactul.

‍