In June of 2024, my family went on a mission trip to serve in Dorado, Puerto Rico. We had never been to PR, but we had been looking for a couple of years for a trip where we could work alongside our kids on something meaningful with other families. We went with Crossroads Church out of Cincinnati. We knew no one in the group, but a friend had told us about their family trips.
On the first night, Steven Feliciano, the Founder and Visionary of the organization we were there to serve with, Hunger Corp, shared the story of their work. It began with disaster relief after Hurricane Maria tore through PR in 2017, which led to building homes for locals facing tough circumstances. Then he laid out his vision for the future which included buying property to establish a hub for local programming, supporting entrepreneurship, working more closely with local government, and helping drive downtown revitalization. My ears perked up. I thought, “I’ve got to talk to this guy. That sounds like what we are doing in Marion.”
We did talk, and we spent most of the next day together, right up until my daughter smashed a porcelain sink during demo and sliced her leg open, earning us an ER visit to a Puerto Rican hospital. (She healed up fine.) From there, Steven and I became quick friends, finding a lot of common ground in vision and mission.
Within a few months, we connected with a handful of guys who had served on previous trips, and others they knew: Brad, a real estate guy, Ric, another developer, Nique, an architect, and Dan, a guy who had built homes in Africa. After a series of meetings, a vision took shape. We would take our collective skills and partner with Steven and Hunger Corp to serve Dorado through intentional, purposeful real estate.
Our family returned to Puerto Rico after Christmas in 2024 to visit Steven and his family. While there, I walked a property that had just come available for sale, right next door to the hostel where we had stayed on our original trip. Within a month, in January 2025, we closed on it. No electric, no plumbing, no windows, and a leaking roof. Just the way I like my buildings. (See the pictures below, before, during, and after.)
What we did not realize was how different dealing in Puerto Rico would be. Everything from acquiring property insurance, to pulling permits, to the fact that all the documents were in Spanish, made for a steep learning curve. It took longer than we hoped and did not go the way we planned. But just over a year later, in spring of 2026, the renovations were done. Hunger Corp moved their team into the building, which also serves as a space for programming, work groups, local leaders, and entrepreneurs, with a possible coffee shop down the road.
Full circle moment: a few weeks ago, Joe and Jen, the leaders who led our original group to PR, returned with another team. On the first night, to their surprise, Steven told this very story.
We are excited about what is next, hopefully more projects. Marion taught me what this kind of work can do for a place. Dorado is teaching me it travels. And there is always more of this work to be done.
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It’s time to give up zoom calls at a busy coffee shop, meeting with clients outside of a professional environment, or tackling projects while the dog barks at someone walking by. Again. It’s hard to get your workload done with distractions. It’s easy with Connect. Connect with your best work self this season. Tour with us at our coworking building and see what all the hype is about!
The honest truth is that I did not go to Puerto Rico looking for a project. I went looking for a week where our kids could see what it looks like to serve people, and where Lindsey and I could serve alongside them. God had other plans, which is usually how these things go. A conversation on the first night with a stranger turned into a friendship, then into a building, then into a team of people from Ohio helping a team of people in Dorado do the kind of work we have been doing right here in our own communities.
That is the part I keep coming back to. The work we do in downtown Marion is not only for downtown Marion. Every apartment we finish, every tenant we help get open, every lesson we learn the hard way about historic buildings and permits and building community, is practice for something bigger than any one project. When you walk into one of our buildings this week to grab a meal or coffee, buy a gift, or attend a meeting or event, know that the investment you make here does not just stay here. We believe that investments in people and places always bring a return, and there is so much good work to be done. Thanks for doing it with us.
Better Together,
Luke Henry Col 3:23
