Family awaits accessible home

Homes for Our Troops helping injured Marine

By SARA B. HANSEN - Fort Collins Coloradoan
May 11, 2009

Marine Staff Sgt. John Jones reluctantly applied to the Homes for Our Troops program while recovering from the amputation of both lower legs.

In fact, it took a direct order from his commanding officer at the hospital in San Antonio to get Jones to fill out the paperwork.

Two years went by and Jones forgot about the application. He moved his wife, Amber, and three children to Fort Collins to start a new life.

"We needed to get away from the eyes of war and be closer to family," Amber Jones said.

He started taking classes at CSU's business school and became one of two disabled veterans enrolled in the first-ever Operation Wall Street, a six-month immersion program in the financial industry created by the Wall Street Warfighters Foundation.

The couple picked out a lot in far southeast Fort Collins and began making tentative plans to build a home.

Then in December, Jones, 32, got the call from Homes for Our Troops that he had been accepted and would get a brand new house. The program even bought the lot the family had picked out.

The 4,200-square-foot home is being built primarily with donated materials and volunteer labor. Jones had to relinquish $110,000 of his Veterans Administration benefits for the house and will have to pay to finish the basement.

Before accepting the house, Jones made sure other veterans on the program's list who had worse injuries were taken care of first.

"We were amazed," said Amber Jones, 26. "This is the biggest thank-you anyone can give him. It gives him great peace of mind."

John Jones said the reality of what he's being given still hasn't sunk in even though he's been watching the house go up.

"I still can't imagine it," he said. "I know it's real, but it hasn't really sunk in."

How it works

Bret Hribar, senior project manager for Homes for Our Troops, is overseeing construction of seven houses for the program in Colorado, California and Texas.

Hribar, a construction manger, learned about the program two years ago and volunteered to help on a project in Parker. In January, he joined the staff at Homes for Our Troops.

"I liked my last job, but I love this one," he said.

The program is designed to give disabled veterans a barrier-free home. In many cases, stairs are eliminated by using a ranch-style floor plan or elevators are installed, which will be done in the Jones family's home.

The program also installs front-loading washers and dryers, sinks and stoves that vets can roll their wheelchairs under, specialized toilets, automatic door openers and, in some cases, lifts to help get veterans out of bed.

On average, 300 to 400 construction workers volunteer on projects.

"This transcends the politics of the war," Hribar said. "This is a way to say thanks to people who are keeping us safe and allowing us to be Americans."

Larry Archer, general contractor for Spring Creek Homes, learned about the Homes for Our Troops program when he and his wife, Beth, attended the International Builder Show in Las Vegas in January.

When he learned the program would build a house in Fort Collins, Archer had no trouble agreeing to be the general contractor for the job.

He said his biggest challenge is scheduling all the professionals who have volunteered their time.

"They all have huge hearts," Archer said. "They are giving their time when they could be out making money. It's a great thing."

In addition to donations of construction materials, community members also have donated food and other items. Several restaurants have donated lunches that they've brought out to the construction site.

The next big challenge will be getting landscaping supplies and volunteers to help with that work, Archer said.

Home for the family

When the house is finished, it will include an office for Jones, who will begin work later this summer as a securities trader for Drexel Hamilton, a Philadelphia brokerage firm that helped fund the Wall Street Warfighters program.

In addition to making the house accessible for Jones, it also will be accessible for his 1-year-old son, Wyatt, who doesn't have a right foot because of amniotic band syndrome. The rare condition is caused by strands of the amniotic sac that separate and entangle digits, limbs or other parts of the fetus, restricting or stopping development.

Cases of the syndrome vary widely, from one in 1,200 to one in 15,000 live births.

Wyatt will be using a shoe-filler prosthetic as he learns to walk and ultimately might have to have an amputation to allow for a prosthetic foot.

Jones has had 33 surgeries since he was injured in Iraq in January 2005. He was thrown through the roof of his Humvee when it hit a double-stack, anti-tank mine. He landed behind the vehicle, shattering the bones in his lower legs.

Amber Jones said she and her husband are the perfect parents for Wyatt.

"What could be better for a boy without a foot than a dad without his legs?"