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July 22, 2005

Los Angeles , CA — Nial Stimson went to his mailbox one day in the Spring of 2005 and found a pink and green flyer, announcing that he could win a $1.5 million Beverly Hills Dream Home, or $1 million in cash, if he bought a $180 fundraiser raffle ticket.

Although he’s not much of a gambler, he thought the odds sounded great—only 22,000 tickets would be sold, so his chances of winning the grand prize were a lot better than if he bought $180 worth of ordinary lottery tickets, and raffle proceeds went to The More Than Shelter Fund, (www.morethanshelterfund.org) which supports programs for low-income families, children, seniors, homeless veterans and job training in the construction trades. He took a chance and bought a ticket—a single ticket.

“You don’t really expect to win, but you buy a ticket anyway. And I figured even if I didn’t win, the 180 bucks was going to a good cause,” he said.

Then he told two of his friends, whom he also encouraged to buy a ticket each, that he was going to win. He told his wife he was going to win. He told his co-workers he was going to win. On the day of the raffle drawing, he kept his cell phone by his side, convinced that when it jangled, it would be the sound of his becoming a millionaire.

Then a funny thing happened…he won!

When Nial received the call from G. Allan Kingston, raffle sponsor Century Housing’s President and CEO, he was ecstatic, but his wife Paula took a little convincing.

“She didn’t believe me! She said ‘Come on, Nialeey,’ that’s her nickname for me, ‘that’s not true,’ and hung up. I called her back two more times and she still didn’t believe me,” he laughs.

“We couldn’t be happier for Nial and Paula,” said Kingston.

“One of the highlights of my career was making that phone call and hearing Nial’s reaction to becoming an instant millionaire,” Kingston added.

The raffle publicity also raised awareness of Southern California’s affordable housing crisis.

As the Marketing Director for Mission Community Hospital, Stimson dreamt of being able to afford a home for him and his family. Winning a home for a $180 investment seemed like a great idea; in spite of the combined income from his job and his wife’s position as a cable networks executive at Disney/ESPN, the young couple could not afford a house in Los Angeles for themselves and their eight-month old daughter, Kyra.

After much consideration and a few visits to the Beverly Hills Dream Home, however, the Stimsons chose the $1 million cash prize alternative.

“Financially it didn’t seem logical to take the house, with all the taxes and upkeep. I just realized that a bird in the hand is much better. This money will allow us the freedom to eventually find a home that we want, but not be in debt from an investment we couldn’t afford to make,” he said.

And if Century Housing (www.centuryhousing.org), sponsor of The More Than Shelter Fund Dream Home Raffle, decides to do it all over again, would he buy another ticket?

“Absolutely!” he enthused, “but I don’t know what people would say if I won twice!”