Big Brothers Big Sisters Incredible House Raffle
             A man blessed indeed


can make $200,000 on $200?’ I was kidding at the time. She said ‘Well, if you want to, that’s fine.’ So we finished breakfast and we went over there and got the
tickets. We were filling out the four tickets and I put one in my mom’s name, one in my wife’s name, one for me and one I think for my dad. When we were
leaving Big Brothers Big Sisters, the receptionist said ‘Well have a good day.’ And I kind of backed up my chair and said ‘I’m going to be the winner. I’ll be back.’
But I was joking at the time. I just wanted her to feel good. She said ‘Oh, great!’”
      Mendez and his family were actively looking to purchase a house at the time. By the time he was notified that he won the house, he was in the final stages of
purchasing a home. “We were living in the Camelot Apartments on E. Johnson and Fordem Avenue,” Mendez said. “We were there for quite a few years. We were
in the process of looking for a house. I guess it was meant to be somehow. As soon as we knew I had won the house, we had everything ready as far as financing
goes. I was supposed to sign the week before I knew that I won the house. For some reason, I decided to come back and sign it later. They give you a month to
make a decision. After I found out, I called those guys and told them ‘Sorry, I don’t need the financing anymore.’ And here we are.” The house was even going to
be located a few blocks away from where they had planned to live.
      There was, however, one potential problem. The house Mendez won was a two-story house, hardly a house could readily accommodate Mendez’s disability.
Well the folks at Veridian Homes, the sponsor of the Incredible House Raffle and Big Brothers Big Sisters got together and came up with a solution. While most
raffles have a “take it or leave it” attitude toward the prizes they offer, Veridian wanted to make sure that Mendez was going to be happy with the home he and his
family would eventually live in. So they built Mendez a new, handicapped-accessible home.
      “He wanted the home and we made sure it was a home that he could live in and feel proud of and meet his particular needs,” said Veridian Homes’ David
Simon. “Part of our everyday way of doing business here we really modify and move walls and windows and personalize our homes to meet our clients’ needs. So
in his case, we definitely personalized a plan to work with his particular needs as well as his family. But then we really worked to accommodate the accessibility
aspects. It’s not the first time we have worked with this situation in terms of making sure we have homes that work for a person with a disability or who has
accessibility issues. So a lot of this was second nature. We don’t do it every day, but we certainly do several a year. We just wanted to make sure it
accommodated his particular situation. For example, he needed access in the kitchen and be able to open the cabinet doors and slide his wheelchair right
under the sink. The same was with him cooking at the stove. There are things you can do to make it work for that particular person’s life style.”
      And what brings all of these positive people together is the work that Big Brothers Big Sisters does. “More important is all the children that Big Brothers Big
Sisters helps in terms of the raffle and raising the money through this process,” Simon said. “I think this is our eleventh year. It makes a better life for a lot of kids in
Dane County, which is outstanding.”
      And while Mendez had wanted to own his own home one day, he wasn’t thinking it would come through the Incredible House Raffle. “I read an article about
Big Brothers Big Sisters,” Mendez recalled. “It gave me some information about what they do with the money. It was a good combination. If I don’t win, it’s still a
good cause to give to. There are a lot of kids that they have involved in this organization. That was the main thing that kept me supporting Big Brothers Big
Sisters all those years. When I bought tickets all those years, I would give at least one away.  But no one ever won, yet it was still a good feeling.”
      And now, it seems that Mendez is the happiest person on earth. “We moved in a couple of months ago. I’m still excited about it. How could I not be excited?
Most people work their entire lives to own a house. Somehow I’ve been blessed. Someone made the comment about that at work. They said ‘You won a house!’ I
said ‘Yeah, I won a house.’ He said ‘Well you must have done something good in your life.’ I said ‘Well I don’t remember, but I must have done something nice.’ I
feel blessed; I feel glad and I am happy.’”

      The 2008 Incredible House Raffle continues through August 2. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by phone using a credit card by calling 663-HOME or
stopping by Big Brothers Big Sisters, 2059 Atwood Avenue.
Martin Mendez (c) with his daughter Liliana (l) and wife
Rosy (r) is still exhuberant about winning the 2007
Incredible House Raffle. Their new home is in the
background.
By Jonathan Gramling

      Martin Mendez, a paraplegic since a hunting accident at age 16 left him with a bullet in the
spine, is truly a blessed man. Mendez, the winner of the 2007 Incredible House Raffle, radiates a
positive attitude as we speak in his new home on Madison’s far east side. “Most of the time, I
believe I have only one life and no matter how I am, if my mind has a good attitude, everything is
going to be fine,” Mendez exclaimed.
      Mendez had been buying house raffle tickets for about the past ten years. Mendez is a
generous man and so, he always bought a ticket for someone else than himself. He and his wife
Rosy went out for breakfast before heading over to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County for his
annual raffle ticket purchase.
      “We went for breakfast and I had $200 in my pocket,” Mendez recalled. “We were looking at the
brochure for Big Brothers Big Sisters and I was telling my wife ‘Wouldn’t it be a good idea if you