Would you sell out your house in order to save it from foreclosure?

Here's the thing. I don't like the look of it either. I'm talking about those Bank of America ads on the Wabash Avenue bridge houses in Chicago. Have you seen them? Yeah, they're not pretty.

Our new mayor, Rahm Emanuel, signed a 30-day lease with Bank of America for that space, according to the Chicago Tribune. Why? To raise money, of course. Chicago needs it. Bad. And nobody likes this idea. Nobody.

But... I wonder...

Would you do the same thing if you could to save your house in foreclosure?

Would you, if you could, lease the roof of your house to Bank of America? Wells Fargo? Pepsi Cola? What about the front of your house? Would you wrap your whole house like a car in an Exxon Mobile banner?

No?

What if it was temporary and it meant you could pay off your mortgage?

Yeah. That's what I thought. You'd do it, right? Your neighbors would hate you for it. But you'd do it. And maybe they'd hate you a little less knowing that you just saved their property value by avoiding foreclosure.

I'd do it. Totally. To save our house? Heck yeah.

Actually, according to Bob that's not true.

I was telling him about how I was going to write this blog post and ask people if they would sell ad space on their houses if it meant they could save their homes from foreclosure. Here's how that conversation went:

BOB: We talked about that.

ME: We did?

BOB: Yeah. I totally wanted to do that.

ME: You did?

BOB: Yes.

STEPH: You wanted to sell ad space on our house?

BOB: Yes. I wanted to call Bank of America and see if we could lease them our roof space for a banner or something but you were totally against it.

ME: I don't remember that.

BOB: Well... probably because you didn't want to do it.

So, there you go. I apparently didn't even want to investigate the possibility of selling ad space on our roof to save our house. Funny how short the memory is. Bob was Mayor Daley floating the idea and I was the general public railing passionately against it even though it could possibly save our house.

Though I don't remember it, I can imagine that I was horrified by the thought of a Bank of America banner wrapping our house. But wouldn't I have at least wanted to try? Thinking about it now, I assume that I would have completely gone for it because, well, anything to save the house, right? Apparently not anything. And why not?

Everyone is railing against our new mayor calling this leasing of city property for ad space a huge mistake. And I get it. It is a slippery slope. No one likes to be marketed 24-7. And our architecture is so precious to us. We Chicagoans are extremely proud of our architecture. We don't want to taint it with obnoxious banners and corporate logos. We don't want to completely sell out, no matter how terrible things are.

Mayor Emanuel plans to bring in $25 million for the city through this sort of advertising. And if he's right, if it works, would it be worth it? I don't know. Feel free to chime in. Please. That kind of money could save a lot of jobs and programs, right? So it could be worth it?


And I'll ask again, if you could sell ad space on your house to save it, would you? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

For more information about the new ads downtown Chicago, check out these links:

Dear Mayor: Don't cheapen our public spaces - Chicago Tribune

Emanuel's ad quest for dollars not as easy as it sounds - Chicago Tribune

(The photos are courtesy of Bob Walker. Thanks for braving the cold on your lunch break, honey!)

Heart of Life

A few years ago a good friend invited us to join him on a trip down to Tijuana… not to buy cheap Valium or low priced cigarettes. Not for hand painted ceramics, secret potions or magical soaps. But for the orphans.

He invited us to meet at the Park & Ride at the 405 and Sepulveda at 4:45 AM on a Saturday to get on a bus, drive down to Tijuana and visit two orphanages and drive back all in one day. To bring them supplies, toys, diapers, to make them lunch, to read to them, to show them that people care. He was extremely passionate in his invitation. He guaranteed that this would change my life and make a huge difference. How could I pass that up? I was in!

If it sounds like a nightmare to you, that's okay. It did to Bob at first too. 4:45 AM?! Tijuana? Orphanages? He didn’t join me until the second trip. After seeing my pictures and hearing the stories about the kids.

Corazon de Vida is the non-profit that organizes these trips. They support 14 orphanages in Baja Mexico.

From their website:

Corazon de Vida (CDV) Foundation is a 501 c3 nonprofit organization. Founded by Hilda Pacheco-Taylor in 1994, CDV is committed to End the Cycle of Child Homelessness…we believe that moving children from streets to safe housing, improving current orphanage conditions and quality of life and focusing on education will ensure a promising future for Mexico’s orphans.

We believe every child's life is valued and holds the same potential, excitement and opportunity as any other life. It is up to us to work together to make sure our care transforms into each child's hope for the future.

Currently CDV is helping to feed, clothe, shelter, and educate over 750 children each day!

After our first trip down together, Bob and I started sponsoring a child by making a monthly donation of $62.50. After another trip we added a second sponsorship and then later, a third. Every trip down to visit the kids made us want to contribute more. The kids are so wonderful and so in need of help. It truly is something you have to see to believe. I don’t think we would have given $187.50 a month if we hadn’t been there and seen their need and their hearts for ourselves.

Such as the little girl at Los Angelitos Orphanage who had been brought their by the policia at 3 years of age. She was three years old and living alone on the streets begging for food to survive. Her first few months in the orphanage she would have to fall asleep first on a bench sitting up and then be carried to bed. Why? Because she was so accustomed to sleeping on park benches she couldn’t fall asleep in a bed. (?!?) We will never forget her.

Due to our financial quagmire, we had to drop our sponsorships and it was the hardest ‘expense’ to cut. We actually asked my mom and step dad to take over our sponsorships for a while so that Corazon de Vida wouldn’t lose our donations all at once. And they did. Thank you, guys!! We look forward to being able to reinstate our sponsorships. Until then, we hope that spreading the word like this will make a difference.

From the economic crisis to the violence in Tijuana to swine flu, Corazon de Vida is in need now more than ever. Because of Swine Flu, they've had to cancel all bus trips until further notice. Given that this was the main way to generate sponsorships, they are now more than ever in desperate need of support. I’m posting this with the hope that someone, even one person, will choose to make a contribution... even be a sponsor.

WATCH THIS VIDEO ABOUT CDV: click here
SPONSORSHIP INFO: click here

OTHER WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE:

- Spread the word - share this with a friend

- Get on CDV's newsletter list and join a bus trip when they start up again - click here to sign up

- Visit the CDV website to learn more

- Attend BLAZIN' HOPE III, Saturday June 6, 2009 at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood (benefit for CDV) click here for info

- Become a friend of CDV's Facebook Sponsor a Child Cause. If they are able to get 1000 friends, a kind and generous donor will donate $1000 to CDV. You do not need to be a Facebook member to join and it's FREE. click here to join the cause on Facebook

What does Corazon de Vida mean?

HEART OF LIFE