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Philadelphia Home Dedication | Year End Giving | Happy Holiday Homecoming | Applications for Assistance on the Rise

Supporter of the Month

A Letter to You from the President of Homes for Our Troops

Dear Homes for Our Troops Supporter,

As the year comes to an end I want to thank you for your support. I have had the privilege of seeing HFOT turn into a national organization helping more than two dozen severely injured veterans. Many people ask me why I started HFOT and how. About three years ago, I was just living my day to day life working my construction job like I had been for twenty years. One night while watching a news program is when everything changed. There were several soldiers talking about the day their convoy was attacked. This was very early in the war and it gave me my first real sense of what was happening. I can still remember them telling their story with intensity like I had never witnessed. During the attack a Humvee was hit with an RPG (rocket propelled grenade). When they stopped the convoy to help their comrade, they were ambushed. Under fire, all they cared about was getting their buddy out of the burning Humvee to see if he was still alive. They finally got him out and this is when they saw he had lost his legs in the blast.

This really got me thinking about what I as an American could do to help. It got me thinking about a home I had built for a young girl with a rare form of arthritis that had left her mainly in a wheelchair. At this point I wanted to help build a handicap accessible home for a member of the military that was injured like the one I heard about on the news. But I found one problem - no group like HFOT had ever been established. I thought to myself, how could this be? It was at this point that the seeds for HFOT were planted.

I began by doing a lot of research on how to start a nonprofit. This was as far from my construction background as you could get. I quickly found myself learning to build a website, write press releases, and get most of the beginnings of a nonprofit together. It took about 6 months to get everything put together and formed into a 501(c)(3) charity. During this time there was one important set of questions unanswered. Who will get the first house, where will they be from, and how do we find them? One night, that question was answered. I happened to be watching NBC Nightly News and Brian Williams was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. He was talking to a soldier who was getting ready to go into surgery. I will never forget watching this young man laying in this bed with bandages wrapping stumps where he had once had arms. As I was watching this I remember thinking this is why I am doing this - to help a soldier like this. Then came his identity. Sgt. Peter Damon from Brockton, Massachusetts. At this point my heart started to race. Brockton is two towns from where I grew up.

I began searching for how to get in touch with Sgt. Damon. I eventually found an article with his girlfriend’s name and called information to get her phone number. I will never forget the date - December 19, 2003 (exactly a year later December 19, 2004 we broke ground on the Damon home). I was nervous but called and spoke to "Jenn". I knew she was skeptical but interested. She told me, "I would like to talk to you more and I know Pete will want to talk to you, but I'm really busy - we’re getting married in the morning."

Several weeks later Pete and I met. The thing that most impressed me was that when I was talking to him about it, he had one question. "Is this something you want to do just for me because I'm a local guy or is this something that you want to do for more injured guys?" I told him my intent was to help as many Veterans as possible and he agreed to help me get HFOT off the ground. We began raising money in March 2004, and to date we have raised enough money and donations of home construction materials and professional labor to provide handicap accessible homes to 26 families.

Thanks to you my fellow Americans, we will continue to raise much needed funding.

With your continued support we will be able to help many more families, many of whom are already on our waiting list.

May you have a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

.

John S. Gonsalves
President & Founder
Homes For Our Troops

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YEAR END GIVING! As you make plans for year-end donations, please include Homes for Our Troops on your list. A donation of any size will allow us to build homes for the many veterans on our waiting list. When you make a year-end tax-deductible donation by December 31 to Homes for Our Troops, you aren’t just giving money. You are reaffirming your commitment to supporting our men and women in the military who have made extreme sacrifices to defend this nation. **** Donate Online Now  |   Donate by Mail ****  Phone In Your Donation 866-7-TROOPS (866-787-6677)

Home Dedication Ceremony held December 14, 2006!
[Read the press release]

Pisey Tan and his mother in front of home           Karen and Frank McKee cut the ribbon with Pisey (right), his mother and his brother at the home dedication ceremony

SGT Tan is a 25 year old hero who hails from the Olney Section of North Philadelphia. While serving in the United States Army, Sergeant Tan was deployed twice to Iraq. During his second deployment with the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment, Pisey's vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. The injuries suffered by Pisey forced the eventual amputation of both of his legs. Currently, he is undergoing intense physical rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. His family’s current home is inadequate as his brother must carry him to the second floor.

Homes for Our Troops is building SGT Pisey a house in partnership with the McKee Group, out of Philadelphia, PA. 

We want to extend a big THANK YOU to the MCKEE GROUP! 
This company and its employees have all worked tirelessly to make the American dream of home ownership a reality for Pisey.  http://www.mckeegroup.net/

From Frank and Karen McKee, who had the idea and the heart to use their resources to help this deserving veteran, to all the people involved who work lots of extra hours to make a miracle happen for Pisey and his family.  This company has shown what a huge impact we all can make when we work together and pool our resources to help our wounded veterans.

   
See the Photo Gallery

SPC Kyle Burleson joined the Armed Forces to serve his nation and to better his life through education that the military would provide. In 2004 while serving in Iraq, he was shot in the neck by a terrorist and suffered severe complications resulting from that wound. Kyle is now a quadriplegic. He and his wife Kristy, their two young children and Kyle's mother had to live in a small 900 square foot home in northern Louisiana, a home that Kyle’s great-grandparents built 120 years ago.

Kyle was forced to spend his days confined to one of the tiny rooms in this very old home. This room was not designed for the 14 electrical outlets it takes to power the equipment that keeps him alive. The hallways were very narrow and made it difficult for Kyle to pass through them. Kyle could not move freely through this house anymore, but his two young children could, and they did not fully understand why Daddy was confined to a bed and couldn’t play with them.

Kristy, Kyle’s wife, understands all too well. She not only takes care of both children, she is also the caregiver to her husband. Dedication and sacrifice cannot fully define what Kyle and his family have given in service to our country.

Kyle and Kristy looking at the new windows	Kyle looks at his new home

Homes for Our Troops made sure Kristy would have all the necessary tools to help Kyle in his day-to-day activities. We installed a rail system throughout the home where she can easily lift him out of bed and move him to the family room, bathroom and other rooms in the house. We added automatic door openers that Kyle can work himself by blowing into a tube to open the door. Since the home is in a hurricane-prone location, we added Simonton StormBreaker Plus windows that will resist serious storm conditions. A generator room backs up Kyle’s electrical needs if the power goes out. These are just a few of the many modifications that are now making their life easier.

Thanks to you and many other generous donors from all around this great country,
Kyle and his family can enjoy life together again, and for that you should be very proud.

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Applications On the Rise From Severely Wounded Service Members
As the War on Terror continues, the number of severely wounded service members rises and our waiting list grows. We need your continued support to assist these returning American Heroes. Here is the story of just one of the many Veterans on our waiting list.

Cpl/USMC, New Jersey Wounded in April 2004 while serving with 2nd Bn., 1st Marines in Fallujah, Iraq. This young Marine was shot in the neck by a sniper and left paralyzed from the waist down. Although this Marine and his mother are US citizens, he had to move to his mother’s home in the Dominican Republic because they do not own a home in the US. Living in a poor country, they often lose power, which makes living conditions difficult. They have little family there, and because of these factors his health is deteriorating, along with his spirits. With your continued support, we will be able to provide an adapted home for this American Hero and many others in need of our help.

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Dawn Teixeira, John Gonsalves, Kirt Rebello and special guest Navy Corpsman Joseph Worley	Angela Drummond, Chairperson holds up a PGA auction item for the live auction	People stood in line to shake Joseph's hand

 

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