1st female-only veteran village

Habitat for Humanity building its 1st female-only veteran village

FOX 10 News
POSTED FEB 26 2019

The Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs reports that there are about 144,229 female veterans in the state of Florida. The Sunshine State has the third largest veteran population, just behind Texas and California.

COCOA, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Habitat for Humanity is giving women a place to call home by building the first female-only veteran village in Brevard County.

The organization broke ground Monday on the new community in Cocoa.

According to Habitat for Humanity's Facebook page, there are six, single-family homes under construction on Whaley Street "providing affordable housing in a typically underserved community."

The hope is that these houses will help reduce the homeless female veteran population.
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Habitat for Humanity Teams Up For Generations of Veterans

Habitat For Humanity Of South Palm Beach Holds Veterans Build

Delray News

Staff Report

December 4, 2017

Delray Beach family members, veterans and neighbors now have spruced up homes thanks to Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach, Vertical Bridge and the Home Depot Foundation.

The homeowners, who are cousins living on the same Delray Beach street, are also members of the military. They have seen many wars including serving in WWII, Iraq and the youngest currently stationed in Germany, spanning three generations of service.

They are 92-year-old WWII Veteran Albert Green who served 41 years in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Merchant Marines stationed in the Pacific Rim during WWII in the Steward Department and Sedric Doughty, who 17 served years in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Navy Reserve and U.S. Air Force Reserve stationed in Japan as military police officer (final rank E-5) and saw active duty in the Iraq and Afghanistan War. Sedric’s son, 18-year-old Sedric Jr. who lives with him in the home passed down from Sedric’s mom, currently serves in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany.

Made possible by a $35,000 gift from presenting sponsor Boca-based Vertical Bridge with $32,000 in grant funding from Home Depot Foundation, more than 100 volunteers from both companies transformed their homes in honor of Veterans Day.

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Vietnam Veteran Leaves Legacy to Homeless and More

Dying Veteran Gives Away All His Possessions, Wills Retirement Fund to Alma Mater (VIDEO)
BY ALEX HEIGL
02/08/2015

"I've had a good life, so I can't complain at all," Bob Karlstrand tells Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE 11.

Karlstrand's positive attitude comes in spite of his circumstance: The 65-year-old Vietnam War veteran has battled colon cancer and is currently facing a terminal lung disease.

An only child who never married and never had children, Karlstrand is preparing for the end of his life with a remarkable gesture: He's willing his Maple Grove, Minnesota, home of 38 years to Habitat for Humanity, with the only stipulation being that it has to go to a veteran.

Karlstrand has been giving his things away for some time. Most of his appliances and furnishings are gone, right down to his living room carpet. "Most of the things I can remember having," he said.

"Maybe some pictures I'll keep but in the end it's only material things."
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Sarasota Police Officers Volunteer to help disabled veteran

Sarasota police work on house for Brandon veteran
TBO.com staff
Published: February 13, 2014

Ten Sarasota police officers volunteered last weekend to work on a home for a retired Brandon soldier, an injured veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, so she can be closer to her job.

“I’m so grateful to all the members of law enforcement who helped out. I appreciate it so much,” said Sgt. Tia McCants of the house being built by Habitat for Humanity Sarasota. “They did so well, I didn’t know we were going to get as much accomplished as well did.”

McCants, who has a degree from the University of South Florida in social work, joined the Army in 2008 and served more than four years in the Army’s language school where she became fluent in Farsi, according to a release from the Sarasota Police Department. During one of the tours, she was riding in a convoy when her vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. The blast injured her shoulder and gave her a concussion that left her with lingering headaches. The injury cut short her service.
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After backlash from neighbors, town pitches in to build vet a house

UPDATE from ABC News
Illinois Veteran Gets Chilly Neighborhood Reception Then Outpouring of Generosity
By TINA CHEN via GOOD MORNING AMERICA
Sept. 28, 2013

New homeowners have been known to get into tiffs with their neighbors over their decorating choices. But a handful of Julie and Brian Wood's neighbors in Morton, Ill., drew up a petition against them for not choosing a brick exterior.

For Army Sgt. Brian Wood, 28, it wasn't the warm welcome he might have expected as a decorated war veteran. Wood has been awarded two Bronze Stars for his two tours in Afghanistan. He now works full time as a warehouse supervisor and continues to serve in the National Guard.

But the initial chilly reception caused a backlash from sympathetic neighbors and well-wishers, turning the sour note into a chorus of welcome and generosity.

Wood found his future home in the Peoria suburb through Habitat for Humanity. Wood, a father of three, lost hearing in one ear due to a combat injury, and that disability has limited his options for jobs, and hence a home loan.
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After backlash from neighbors, town pitches in to build vet a house
KSL.com News
By Tracie Snowder
September 27, 2013

MORTON, Ill. — When U.S. Army Sgt. Brian Wood returned from Afghanistan, he was honored with an amazing surprise — Habitat for Humanity had offered to help his family build their first house.

But things quickly got ugly when some neighbors started a petition because they feared the house would not fit with the rest of the community. The petition actually ended up being a blessing in disguise as it helped Habitat for Humanity secure the donation money needed to build the house.

Wood's story has gone viral, and donations have been pouring in from around the world as people are being touched by the Afghanistan Vet's story.

"Bad has turned to good," Lea Anne Schmidgall, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Peoria, told Yahoo Shine. "The people who started the petition did us a favor in a roundabout way, because it raised awareness, as well as funds for the project."

In an interview with ksl.com, Wood said he's had a hard time since returning from Afghanistan. He earned two Bronze Stars and lost his hearing in one ear.

"It's been one of the hardest transitions I've ever had to face in my life," he said. "It's a complete change of lifestyle in each and every way. I was away from family for a total of 28 months during two tours. Going from fast-paced, hostile and dangerous environment to life at home has been a very hard transition."
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Once homeless, female veteran builds homes for others

Once homeless, veteran builds homes for others
WTOP News
By Thomas Warren
June 3, 2013

WASHINGTON - It's just before noon on an overcast and humid Sunday on the National Mall. Regina Best is down on her right knee, a screwdriver firm in her right hand, the nose held steady by her left. As she's done countless times in the past couple of hours, she gives a strong squeeze of the trigger to drill another screw into the frame of what soon will become a home for a family without one.

But, for Best, it's really how she's spent many a Sunday the past two years: building homes so others have a roof over their heads. Up until a month ago, she did so while not having a home for herself.

Life for Best, 40, started to unravel in 2011. By November, she lost her job as an assistant caterer.

"And then I was just in a really horrible relationship, and I ended up homeless," Best says.

Best was born in 1973 on March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County in Southern California, although it was known as March Air Force Base when she came into the world.

She is a former staff sergeant in the Air Force, working as a chef during four years of active duty and serving three years as a reservist. She left the military in 2003.
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WWII veteran makes dream come true for Vietnam veteran

WWII veteran makes dream come true for Vietnam veteran
Marietta Daily Journal
by Jon Gillooly
September 28, 2012

ACWORTH — The wish of a World War II veteran made a Vietnam veteran’s dream come true on Thursday in the form of a new Habitat for Humanity house in Acworth.

Before he died in February, the late Army Lt. Col. Ashley Ivey donated a half-acre wooded lot on Womack Avenue off Cobb Parkway to Habitat for Humanity with the stipulation that any home built there go to a disabled veteran.

During the house dedication ceremony, Ivey’s niece, Beth Hoeve of Roswell, recalled how much her late uncle loved his country.

“While serving as a navigator … in WWII, he was shot down in German-occupied Holland, and the Dutch Resistance risked their lives to smuggle him to safety,” she said. “He never forgot their kindness. Col. Ashley and his (late) wife, Ruth, knew the importance of their faith in God and put it into action by serving others.”

Ivey went on to serve in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He spent his retirement as a substitute teacher at North Cobb High School and as an active member of Acworth United Methodist Church, the Southern Order of Storytellers and other civic and volunteer activities.

Ivey died just months before he could see his dream of providing homeownership to another veteran realized. He had hoped that his donation would inspire others, especially members of the military, to also donate to veterans.

The property he left went to Vietnam veteran Lt. Victor Alvarado of Acworth, a grandfather of seven. A native of Puerto Rico, Alvarado injured his back while offloading 250-pound C-130 tires at Homestead Base, south of Miami, while serving in the Air Force. Later back surgery worsened the problem, he said.
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Deceased WW2 veteran helps Vietnam vet get new home

Deceased WW2 veteran helps Vietnam vet get new home
Posted: Aug 17, 2012
By MYFOXATLANTA STAFF
ATLANTA

This week Habitat for Humanity is building a special home in Ackworth. Victor Alvarado, who will be the new owner of the home, is a disabled veteran. The home couldn't have happened without the generosity of the volunteers as well as a special person who donated the land.

Piece by piece, dozens of volunteers are putting up a home for Victor and Myriam Alvarado. The project is fulfilling the dreams of not one, but two veterans' families.

Col. Ashley Ivey served for 31 years. He was shot down during World War II, and after he retired he wanted to donate land to help build a home for a disabled vet. Unfortunately Col. Ivey died this year, but his family and the folks from Habitat for Humanity worked together to make his wish a reality.

"It's hard to stand here and not cry, because I know he'd be so thrilled," said Ivey's niece, Beth Hoeve.

Alvarado was injured stateside while serving in the US Air Force during Vietnam. He heard from his church that Habitat for Humanity wanted to build a home for a disabled vet, and he couldn't believe when he was chosen.
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Habitat for Humanity program helps veterans by giving them homes

Habitat for Humanity program helps veterans by giving them homes, home repairs

By Marian Rizzo
Correspondent
Published: Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 9:49 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 9:49 p.m.
Dexter and Maricel "Marty" Smith love to show off their home.

The four-bedroom dwelling — with its gable roof, screened front porch and landscaped yard — satisfied a longtime dream for the couple.

They and their four boys had been living with Marty's sister since they moved to Ocala in 2003, but they wanted a fresh start and a home of their own. They applied with Habitat for Humanity of Marion County and moved into their new home in September 2006.

As veterans of the U.S. Army, the Smiths are among a half-dozen veteran families serving as role models for Habitat's new housing program, Project Patriot. The program began March 1 and will be providing homes or home repairs for area veterans.
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Copper thieves target Habitat home built for disabled veteran

Copper thieves target Habitat home built for disabled veteran
December 29, 2011

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- A house for a disabled veteran, built by veterans is a shining example of humanity.

After a year of hard work and grueling fundraising, volunteers had finally put the finishing touches on the place, with a brand new boiler and all the trimmings, when the thieves severed pipes, busted out a window and left holes in the drywall.

"We have a homeowner who is in a wheelchair. He desperately needs to live close to the VA hospital and this was going to be his home in what we thought would be no more than two weeks,” said Habitat for Humanity’s Executive Director Suzanne Williams.

Construction Manager Michael Brownfield said, "They took a big rock and threw it through the window and literally busted out the window. It made a lot of noise. I mean they weren't quiet about it."

The brazen thieves caused as much as $10,000 in damage, trying to dig out whatever copper piping they could find.
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UPDATE

CNY HVAC supplier to help Habitat home damaged by copper thieves

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- An act of vandalism was followed up by an act of kindness after a local man stepped up to help repair damage at a Habitat for Humanity house targeted by copper thieves this month.

After hearing the story on the news, VP Supply Corporation's Christopher Maroney says he will either salvage a damaged boiler in the home or replace it.
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Habitat for Humanity gets grant to build for a veteran

Habitat for Humanity gets grant to build for a veteran
Applications will be taken one day only in October
Posted: September 4, 2010
By DeAnn Komanecky
RINCON - Effingham County Habitat for Humanity volunteers are on the hunt for a little land - and one lucky veteran.

Habitat was notified this week they will receive a $10,000 grant to build a home for a local veteran, said George Groce, development director of Effingham Habitat for Humanity.

The grant is from the Ferland Foundation for a Habitat Women's Build project.

The next step will be to identify a veteran and then find land for the home.

"We just got news of the grant this week, but we've already been talking to the American Legion and will also be checking with Alpha Battery for possibilities," Groce said.
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Habitat for Humanity gets grant to build for a veteran

Habitat for Humanity builds homes for vets

Habitat for Humanity builds homes for vets

By Josh Jarman - The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch via AP
Posted : Sunday Jun 27, 2010 16:02:43 EDT

NEWARK, Ohio — At three years, Wayne Lupher’s stint in the Army was relatively short.

An incident while he was serving in South Korea in 1987, however, left him with a permanent back injury that has cost him jobs and two decades of financial insecurity. Now, a coalition of Licking County veterans service organizations has decided that it’s time for some payback.

Lupher was selected for a first-of-its-kind partnership between local veterans groups and the Licking County Habitat for Humanity, which are teaming up to build Lupher and his family their first home of their own.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/06/ap_military_vets_habitat_homes_062710/

Habitat for Humanity Building Homes for Veterans

Habitat for Humanity Building Homes for Veterans Right Now!
Attention Military Veterans, espeically those looking to live in the Southern California area, Habitat for Humanity is building 27 homes to provide inexpenseive affordable housing for those that qualify.

Any Veteran thinking about buying a home in the future should stop by and check it out.

Habitat offers homeownership opportunities to families who are unable to obtain conventional house financing. Generally, this includes those whose income is 30 to 80 percent of the area’s median income. Prospective Habitat OC homeowner families make a down payment equal to 1% of the purchase price. Additionally, they contribute 500 hours of “sweat equity” on the construction of their home or someone else’s home. Because Habitat homes are built using donations of land, material and labor, mortgage payments are kept affordable.

Habitat is building 27 homes in San Juan Capistrano, California specifically for Veterans to own. The homes are sold at or below the organizations cost with a 1% down payment and a 0% interest loan. This is an excellent opportunity for you, and I urge you to explore this possibility!!
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Habitat for Humanity Building Homes for Veterans

Fort Lewis wounded warriors team up with Habitat for Humanity

Over and over again we read about how our wounded troops, no matter how seriously they are wounded, end up still giving back, helping others. While these remarkable people are simply heart warming to some, others are reminded of how little they ask of us and what we fail to do. How can anyone look at these people, read the accounts of a broken system, over 900,000 claims in the VA backlog, not to mention how many still in service wait for care, and not be totally appalled?

Think of how unique they all are. Teenagers right out of high school, deciding they are willing to risk their lives for the sake of the rest of us and enter into the military to do it. Twenty year olds, trapped between being a kid and adult, willing to go wherever, whenever this country asks them to go. We had twenty-something year olds give up their jobs, careers they spent years going to college to prepare for, families, houses, friends, everything they wanted out of life, after September 11th. Many of them had no intention of joining the military but after this nation was attacked, they stepped up and said they would go to the ends of the earth and lay down their own lives.

Thinking about all of that, how many wounded and waiting for the care they thought we would honor, they still give back. Astonishing!

Fort Lewis' wounded warriors team up with Habitat for Humanity
A group of 27 soldiers who are part of the Warrior Transition Battalion out of Fort Lewis are helping build low-income houses on a Habitat for Humanity project this week.

By Erik Lacitis

Seattle Times staff reporter

Every little bit helps, when you're back home from Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever you were stationed, and know that because of your injury or illness, your Army days are likely over.

And so Wednesday, a group of 27 soldiers who are part of the Warrior Transition Battalion out of Fort Lewis were helping build low-income houses on a Habitat for Humanity project.

They said they wanted to give back to the community, as if they hadn't done enough for the country already.

"It makes them feel needed," said Staff Sgt. James Warren, who has 10 soldiers in his Alpha Company squad that's part of the battalion. He was there helping hammer and hoist materials.

He's 35 and if you're speaking from his right side, sometimes he asks you to repeat what was said.

"Gunfire battles," he explained. That would have been when he was in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004.

Now he's with the transition battalion, of which there are 37 units across the country, started back in January 2008 after searing reports of troubled medical hold units. Wounded and sick soldiers felt as though they were adrift for months, sometimes years.
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009325710_warriors11m.html

Habitat to build free house for another soldier

Habitat to build free house for another soldier
Darryl E. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer
April 10, 2009
Before his second Iraq deployment, U.S. Army Spc. Marcus Griffin shared a somber premonition with his wife, Andrea:

He had a feeling that he wouldn't make it home.

A close encounter last November with a booby-trapped house nearly made him a prophet. Though the blast left him forever worse for wear, the 24-year-old did make it home.

Now, West Orange Habitat for Humanity hopes to give him a home to call his own. On the heels of "Home At Last," its pilot project that built a house last year for Army Sgt. Joshua Cope, who lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq, the group has tapped Marcus to star in its home-building sequel.

"We do ... feel a special responsibility to support veterans of our local Central Florida community who were severely injured and disabled in the service of our country," said Bill Criswell, an organization spokesman. "Marcus' injuries may not be as evident as Josh Cope's, but he, like so many other of our returning veterans, has paid a heavy price serving our country."

More than $300,000 in cash and in-kind donations helped construct the Cope home — a goal Criswell knows may be tough to reach in this economy.
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Disabled veteran's dream of a new home comes true

Laney Cope and her father, Joshua, test the water in the pool at their new Oakland home this week. (Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel)

Home at last: Disabled veteran's dream of a new home comes true
Nov 22, 2008
Darryl E. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer
November 22, 2008
As soon as the Honda Element eased into the driveway Tuesday morning, a barefoot Laney Cope bolted from her car seat and scampered around to the passenger side to greet her father. The 2-year-old just couldn't wait. Neither could Joshua Cope.The doors of his adaptive vehicle couldn't open soon enough, the hydraulic ramp couldn't lower quickly enough, and his motorized wheelchair couldn't roll out of the hold fast enough. Finally, this was the day. Joshua and Erica Cope were homeowners.


The Copes' 3,775-square-foot house, nestled on a tree-lined half-acre plot in this west Orange County town, was built and paid for by West Orange Habitat for Humanity. The group's "Home at Last" project, which will be dedicated this morning at Oakland Avenue Charter School, was a pioneering venture to build a house for a severely injured veteran of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Its first recipient: Army Sgt. Joshua Cope.

Usually, recipients of Habitat houses must invest hundreds of hours of their own labor in building their home, which in the United States costs an average of $60,000. The "sweat equity" requirement was waived for the Copes.
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The Copes tour their new home Photos

Do you know a severely injured vet who need a home?
Josh Cope - Long journey back, a step at a time Photos