Rodriguez Family: “I had to keep my promise.”

“Back in 1979, I made a promise to my family. I promised them that I would buy us a home,” Richard Rodriguez of Cheyenne said. “I had to keep my promise.”

In May 2009, Richard fulfilled that promise made 30 years earlier when he mailed in his last payment on a 30-year Wyoming Community Development Authority (WCDA) first-time homebuyer loan.

“The folks at WCDA tell me that makes me one of the original WCDA borrowers,” he said, smiling.

Richard is a lifelong resident of Cheyenne, Wyoming. “I’ve lived in Cheyenne for 68 years,” he said. “I raised my kids here in Cheyenne—and in my home we bought through the WCDA. The kids are now grown up and married and out on their own.”

“I remember when we bought our home,” Richard reflected. “I was really excited when we closed on our house...and really nervous. But WCDA helped me through the entire process. They were able and willing to help out all along the way, and they’ve been great to deal with over the past 30 years.”

When asked how he celebrated after making the last payment on his mortgage loan, Richard smiled again. “We didn’t celebrate, we just bragged.”

“Over the years, there is no way to count how many times I have recommended the WCDA to people who were thinking about buying their first home,” he said. “I don’t know if they followed my advice or exactly what WCDA has done for other people, but if they have had as much of an impact on other people’s lives as they’ve had on mine, then they’ve really enriched the quality of life for the entire state of Wyoming.”

To learn more about Wyoming Community Development Authority, please visit their website.  

For more information on Housing Bonds, see our advocacy page.