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A Kelowna woman is on a mission to trade her way from a pinecone to a house.
Stephanie Horman was inspired by the red paperclip challenge created by Kyle MacDonald, a Canadian man who started with a red paperclip and traded his way to a two-storey farmhouse.
“I know it's a really big goal, but if other people have done it, why not give it a go?” she says.
In September, Horman participated in her first trading challenge, starting out with a pinecone she picked up at her kid’s school.
“I only gave myself two weeks to see how much I could trade, and then whatever I got as my final trade, I was donating to the community,” she explains.
“I ended up with $10,000 worth of warm slipper socks and gave them to the outreach workers in Kelowna, and they were able to redistribute them during that really cold snap in December.”
This time, Horman will keep trading until she gets a house that she can gift to the community.
“I don't necessarily assume it's going to be something in the Okanagan,” she says. “That obviously would be ideal, but I would accept a house anywhere across Canada.”
Depending on where it’s located, Horman says she may give it to a family in need or convert it into a second stage housing facility.
"I'm really leaning on some of the frontline responders to see what we need in our community or the community that the house is found," she explains.
Over the weekend, Horman saw that someone is giving away their house on Facebook Marketplace.
“The only thing is, there are a lot of barriers because he needs it moved off his property,” she says, adding that she would require land and someone to move the house to be able to accept it.
Since Jan. 11, Horman has traded her way from a pinecone to a bracelet to a throw pillow to a 20-year-old agave plant to a handmade jade turtle to a surfboard to an antique vanity set.
She adds: “I'm always looking for trades and I love anything unique.”
Anyone wanting to make a trade can contact Stephanie Horman on Instagram or at moderndaywonderland@gmail.com.
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