Henderson couple’s joyous ‘Candy Cane House’ helps spread hope for those in need

When Joey Cardona was diagnosed with lymphoma successful December 2017, helium started looking for ways to dispersed joyousness successful the community.

Cardona and his husband, Victor Cardenas, judge that “how you consciousness is however you heal,” and Cardona yearned to permission thing down for radical to retrieve him by.

That’s erstwhile the mates started acquiring Christmas trees to decorate their Henderson location astatine 366 S. Milan St.

Now, they person astir 100 trees crossed their spot — immoderate lasting gangly connected their own; others platformed connected stands oregon adjacent hung from the ceiling.

The mates decided to unfastened their location for visitors to peek astatine the wood they created.

That’s present go a beloved Henderson attraction known arsenic the “Candy Cane House,” which returned this vacation play for its 5th twelvemonth and volition erstwhile again beryllium collecting donations for a section nonprofit.

Even better: Cardona, initially fixed 2 months to live, is inactive alive.

“Christmas is really, truly bully for people. It’s besides atrocious sometimes, truthful if we could conscionable stock that emotion and dispersed it, I deliberation that’s benignant of the messaging that we truly privation to show,” Cardenas said. “(Cardona) got a 2nd chance, truthful helium wanted to propulsion the message, like, however bash we assistance different radical get 2nd chances and however bash we assistance different radical conscionable successful general, particularly astir the holidays?”

The Candy Cane House features much than 80 decorated Christmas trees of each sizes with astatine slightest 60,000 lights passim the property. Each histrion is adorned with colored lights and different accoutrements to lucifer the taxable planned for the assorted rooms successful the house.

When entering the foyer, a wood of reddish and achromatic lights greets guests — inspired by the hard candy for which the location was named. Visitors past marque their mode done a “white, wintery hallway” into the surviving room, wherever a assortment of “animated” trees await them — including the Grinch tree, a euphony histrion and the quintessential Vegas Golden Knights tree.

Cardona is the mastermind down the histrion themes portion Cardenas thinks up the wide design. Each histrion is designed otherwise each twelvemonth based connected the taxable of the country it gets placed in.

All details are accounted for, adjacent the odor of a room, Cardenas explained. It’s a afloat accumulation that ne'er stops being improved upon, helium added.

The Candy Cane House is simply a escaped experience, but the mates does cod donations for HopeLink of Southern Nevada, an enactment that helps forestall homelessness by offering eviction prevention, accelerated rehousing, exigency structure and basal needs enactment specified arsenic exigency nutrient assistance and recognition services.

Guests tin bring currency and hygiene items oregon donate wealth utilizing CashApp and Venmo done QR codes placed successful the house, and each the proceeds get passed connected to HopeLink.

Last year, the Candy Cane House gave assorted hygienic supplies and implicit $4,000 successful donations to HopeLink.

Cardenas said helium and Cardona liked the enactment HopeLink was doing and thought it was a large mode to assistance radical “get a 2nd accidental astatine life.”

Kristin Aviles, the main operating officers of HopeLink, said the donations from Cardenas and Cardona “really got america done a batch of the year.”

She added that the hygiene products were particularly adjuvant due to the fact that elder citizens connected fixed incomes and low-income families sometimes cannot spend items similar toilet insubstantial oregon shampoo erstwhile they’re having to juggle paying rent, utilities and different basal needs.

The monetary donations assistance HopeLink tally immoderate of its different services that aren’t covered by assistance backing for rental assistance, similar its recognition assistance.

“I deliberation it’s great,” Aviles said of the Candy Cane House. “HopeLink is present for the community, and truthful the much partners we tin get, we’re buying into our ngo of helping the community. It takes each of america to truly beryllium capable to marque a difference, truthful anyone who is capable to get the connection retired of the needs of the radical successful this assemblage and are capable to assistance america get those things retired to them is truthful appreciated.”

About 6,000 radical sojourn the Candy Cane House each weekend, immoderate adjacent driving successful from Arizona, California and Utah conscionable to spot the spectacle. Cardenas said they get instrumentality visitors each play to spot what caller decorations person been enactment up.

The Candy Cane House has go truthful iconic that the code shows up arsenic “Candy Cane House” connected Google Maps alternatively of a mean residence.

Cardenas explained that they effort to support a large narration with their neighbors and person implemented assorted strategies to minimize their postulation interaction during the holidays. They purpose to guarantee nary trash is near down by visitors and adjacent person a enactment monitor.

Cardona was precocious re-diagnosed with cancer, this clip battling polycythemia vera, a benignant of chronic leukemia. It’s a akin acquisition to what the mates went done with the 2017 diagnosis, but Cardenas said they’re staying affirmative and continuing to usage the Candy Cane House arsenic a beacon of warmth.

“Every twelvemonth it gets bigger, each twelvemonth it gets better, each twelvemonth we get much and much creative,” Cardenas said. “We conscionable benignant of support going and it’s thing that continues to heal my hubby now, even. We’re conscionable benignant of successful bully spirits, obviously, and conscionable I conjecture trying to dispersed the emotion and trying to situation him successful each the Christmas communicative and enactment him successful a blessed place.”

The attraction is unfastened from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday done Sunday.

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