A nonprofit that provides “affordable homeownership opportunities to under-resourced families in the Northwest” recently kicked off construction on its first Benton City home.

First Story held a “raise the wall” event June 26 for a home in River North.

The home is going to Buck and Avonlea Ide, a couple with a 10-month-old baby.

They’d been saving for a home since they got married four years ago, but couldn’t find one in their price range, the Bend, Oregon-based First Story said in a statement.

“It feels like we won the lottery,” Buck Ide said in the statement. “We had been hoping to find something in the $300,000 range but then interest rates went through the roof and even in the most rural areas, it was just unaffordable. Receiving this home means we will have a solid financial base on which to build our future.”

Benton City Mayor Len Burton welcomed the Ides to town.

“A home is where families grow into the foundations that make up the grassroots of America, and I wish to express gratitude to First Story for making your home ownership happen,” Burton said in the statement.

First Story was started by builder Hayden Homes.

Its homes are built or refurbished in existing Hayden Homes communities “with the same quality, care and aesthetics as every other home in the neighborhood,” the statement said. They come with appliances, a washer and dryer, and finished landscaping.

They’re sold to people or families earning 80% of the area median income or less; First Story provides loans at zero-down and zero-percent interest for 30 years.

Construction of the Benton City home is expected to be done by mid-October.

First Story has so far helped 118 families become homeowners.

All have been first-time homebuyers, 80% were the first in their families to own a home, 30% identify as minorities and 20% are households with children who have disabilities.

Go to: firststory.org.