Father and son Jon and Chad Youngquist founded Pillar Development in 2005, building homes in Ellensburg, WA. Like many in their industry, the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 brought everything to the edge. What happened next had nothing to do with the market — and everything to do with a trip to Northern Baja, Mexico.

In 2009, Jon traveled to Baja on a mission trip that would permanently reorder his priorities. He witnessed families living without adequate shelter — and saw clearly that he and his son had the precise skills to do something about it. He came home with urgency. Despite the stress of navigating a collapsing housing market, Jon pressed Chad to go. Chad was reluctant, but he went that spring. What he saw changed him just as profoundly.

Chad will tell you plainly that after his first trip, he had an encounter with God. He held it privately for three weeks, not saying a word to anyone — not his wife Jamie, not his father. He turned it over. He weighed it. He sat with the impossibility of it. And then he couldn't hold it any longer. He went to his dad.

"I think God is asking us to build a house in Mexico for every house we build in Washington. I haven't told you because I'm terrified. I don't know how it's possible. But God finally said, 'I don't need you to figure out how. I just need your one-word answer.'"

— Chad Youngquist, Co-Founder

In the middle of the worst financial crisis in a generation, Chad and Jon made a decision that looked, by every measure, like the wrong one. For every home Pillar Development built for profit in Washington, they would build a home in Mexico for a family who couldn't afford one — free of charge. The Home for Home Program was established — not out of abundance, but out of obedience.

After roughly the first fifteen homes, something unexpected happened. The Home for Home Program didn't just survive — it took on a life of its own, growing at a pace that outstripped Pillar Development itself. Word spread. Trip participants multiplied. Donations arrived in five-figure amounts. Churches and community groups from across the Pacific Northwest began organizing their own builds.

Today, over 100 homes and several churches have been completed through the program. In the early years of Jon's retirement, he and his wife JoAnn spent months at a time living and working in Mexico. Now Jon serves as a facilitator, equipping other teams to carry the work forward. The mission he once led personally has become a movement sustained by hundreds of willing hands. Chad continues to lead teams from across the Pacific Northwest at least once per year. He has been on 40–50 trips since 2009.

Youngquists  ·  Rosarito, MX  ·  2018

The Home for Home Program was not born from surplus. It came from questions, from fear of the unknown, from the worst possible financial timing. It came from two builders who looked at what they had — their skills, their boldness, their faith — and asked if it all meant just a little more. A legacy like this doesn't require certainty or perfect conditions. It just needs a one-word answer given to the One who makes all things possible.