There have been lots of life changes in the past few years for the Diaz family.
Ignacia Diaz, along with her husband and three children, relocated to St. John’s, where her husband began a new chapter of his career as a researcher at Memorial University.
The Diaz family has been in St. John’s for two years, transferring here from Colina, Chile, a suburb of Santiago, about 30 kilometres north of the capital city. Their three children are age 13, 11 and four.
She says they are still adjusting, especially to the weather, which Diaz says is much colder than her home country.
But that hasn’t detracted her from settling in and embracing life in St. John’s.
“I like that it is a small city. The people here are very nice in general.”
“We enjoy the trails. Our family likes to go for long walks on them.”
She said Santiago has a population of about seven million residents, while her hometown of Colina is about half the size of St. John’s with approximately 79,000 residents.
She said her older children are also still adjusting, especially in school, and her youngest is in preschool.
She is looking for work right now, but in the interim she enjoys being a mom and helping her family adjust to life so far from home.
She said the support from people they have befriended during their time here was something she didn’t expect. Diaz said her family has made a host of friends and those people congratulated them after they won a prize in a contest recently.
“To realize the people were calling and congratulating us was nice. The friendships we are developing from these people showed us that.”
They were chosen as a second prizewinner in a contest she entered after seeing an ad during a television program she likes.
“I found out about the contest on the HGTV website. I heard about it during an episode of “Bryan Inc.,” an HGTV show I enjoy watching,” she said.
“I decided right away to enter and took a few days to write my entry.”
She said she tried to be honest in her story and tell the people at HGTV what she is looking for and why, which ultimately sees them getting their own home, a place with bedrooms for each of the children and a backyard for them to play. It will also be critical for their pets, a cat and dog, which also require a space of their own.
The Diazs are currently renting in St. John’s, but she has aspirations of what her home will look like in the future.
“We want a home, mainly I want a place where my family and friends feel welcome,” she said.
“I was surprised to win, but it was nice, as it is something I never expected.”
The family is not looking for a home just yet, but they hope that sometime in the future, when the finances align with their plans, they will be ready to move and start a search.
Contest entrants were asked to share their “Home Someday” story and tell the Baeumlers why they should win the contest. Diaz explained that she and her family of five moved from Chile to Canada less than two years ago and hope to purchase a home.
After they were presented with their prize, the Diazs received a personalized congratulatory video message from the Baeumlers.
Her story was selected from nearly 6,000 entries. The Top 3 winners represent a range of life stages, needs, culture and geographic locations across Canada.
The $25,000 first prize went to a couple in Ontario and the other secondary prize of $10,000 was awarded to a young couple in Alberta.
The contest opened Jan. 14 and closed Feb. 28.
She lauded the efforts of the people at the RBC on Elizabeth Avenue for their professionalism in getting them their prize.
“When they presented us with the cheque, we didn’t feel there were any strings attached. They were just welcome and helpful,” she said.
“There was no pressure from them. They just told us to come back when you are ready, but there was no heavy sales pitch.”
She said they were free to make their own choices.
