Photo By Sgt. Alvin Parson | Volunteer Marines for the Homes for Wounded Warriors Program helped remove shingles...... read more read more
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PERU, Ind. - Combat-wounded veteran, Sgt. Jesse James, will not have to worry about a home after he is medically discharged from the Marine Corps. There is a non-profit organization building him and his family a brand new house —free-of-charge.
“The first thing that we thought was ‘is this actually real,’” said James, a 25-year-old husband and father of two. “My wife and I looked at each other and kind of got the chills. We didn’t want to get our hopes up. We kept quiet for the most part until things started falling in place. I guess you can say that we were in shock a little bit.”
Homes for Wounded Warriors Program, an organization that builds houses for combat-wounded veterans, partnered with Habitat for Humanity, a company that builds simple, affordable houses for families in need, to provide a living space for the James’.
“Our goal is to provide the homes for the veterans so when they get out of the service or retire, they (can) focus on rehab, recovery, their family and whatever their dreams are,” said Capt. Marcus Trouerbach, the inspector-instructor at Detachment 1, Communications Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Force Headquarters Group located here.
Trouerbach founded HWWP in 2011 with the intent of assisting combat-wounded veterans to get back on their feet. He said he knows the mental, physical, financial and emotional toll combat can take on vets, having seen his fellow comrades get seriously injured during his deployments overseas.
James, a combat engineer, has been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. During his tours he was injured by a roadside bomb and as a result, suffered a traumatic brain injury. He also suffers from, and is currently receiving treatment for, post-traumatic stress disorder.
Trouerbach knew it would not be hard finding volunteers in the local community to support a wounded veteran. He knows there are many people here who have served in the military or have had family that have been affected by overseas contingency operations.
David Stephens, the vice president of HWWP, told James that people have been pouring in to give a hand to help a young veteran. James said it put his mind at ease to know those same people will be his new neighbors.
“Most people think that it’s about the house,” said James, who currently lives at Wounded Warriors Battalion-West at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. “It’s not about the house. It’s more about the people that came together. If you look at how many people that are involved, it shows you that there are a lot of people that want to help.”
Although volunteers are not hard to find, Trouerbach said, finding funds and property to build on can sometimes be difficult. Not many people will just donate a plot of property, he said.
Trouerbach said he and his HWWP crew were very lucky that a local gentleman was willing to give up his piece of land for the James’ building site. The donor had another home that was built by Habitat for Humanity at a different location.
Habitat for Humanity played a large role in making the construction happen. Stephen Furste, Boone County’s executive director for Habitat for Humanity, helped expedite the home-building process for HWWP, Trouerbach said.
“I got Marcus’ name and the organization called Homes for Wounded Warriors from a friend in Indianapolis,” Furste said. “I called him about a year ago and said, ‘We’re interested in partnering, and we have a lot of veterans that would love to do something for a returning vet that was injured.’”
Furste, a former Army captain during the Vietnam era, and his veteran friends were compelled to do something. One phone call led to another which ultimately led to a fundraiser in March 2012. They raised enough money that night to build an entire house for James.
“We’re very blessed,” Furste said. “We have a lot of people that are very passionate about helping him to come back with his family and settle down here in Boone County with the rest of us.”
Trouerbach said without Habitat for Humanity this home would have taken a lot longer to construct because they might have had to buy the property. The house-purchasing process could have potentially pushed back construction three to six months.
It takes a lot of resources to build a home, Trouerbach explained. Every time HWWP goes to a different town or different city they have to find a general contractor, a property, the material, find all the other contractors and the money to build a home.
“From the time we start fundraising to the time we are done is about 90-120 days. We started building this house at the end of June, or the very beginning of July, and it will be finished before September 15,” he said.
In addition, James’ new community wants to give him a big “house warming gift.” The local American Legion plans to raise money for James and his family, said Mary Trott of the Women’s Auxiliary in nearby Lebanon, Ind.
James dreams of being a woodworker, so the HWWP is renovating a garage into a woodworking shop adjacent to his house. When he retires, he will not have to worry about bills. He will be able to focus on his rehab, his family and his woodworking, said Trouerbach.
“The community keeps doing fundraisers to help supply my shop for woodturning, furniture for the house, and they are setting up a program where they supply my house with food for weeks at a time from a creamery factory,” James said.
“They have been doing a lot of side things to help our family out,” James said. “I’m trying to attend the Mark Adams School of woodworking.”
Stephens has been assisting with that process. He has been working with a Veteran’s Affairs representative to get James’ school approved.
“I haven’t seen a single program that does so much for a single family,” James said.
The Homes for Wounded Warrior Program goes way beyond building the home, he said. The program strives to put the veterans mind at ease so they can focus on their family.
Trouerbach said that HWWP has no intention of slowing down after the James’ house is fully built. He said there are about 33 veterans that are still seeking assistance nationwide.
“I have another veteran that we are building for in Kokomo, Ind.,” Trouerbach said. “I just made the announcement about this veteran two days ago and I had one of the wealthiest guys in Kokomo, who owns a warehouse, and he said, ‘Just come in my warehouse and take anything that you want. Just go shopping.’”
He said this was a generous offer because the donor practically has his own home improvement warehouse. He has everything from windows, doors, siding, countertops, cabinets, toilets and showers, said Trouerbach.
“I have another one in Evansville, Ind., which is another joint Habitat for Humanity venture,” he said. “Then I’ll focus on some of the other veterans that I have in some of the different areas.”
In the coming months, Trouerbach plans to help veterans from Texas to New York. Then eventually assist those seeking housing help nationwide.
| Date Taken: | 08.13.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.13.2012 16:23 |
| Story ID: | 93137 |
| Location: | PERU, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 927 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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