Wisconsin Veteran Receives Keys To New Home

Home Built Entirely By Volunteers

POSTED: 2:56 pm CST March 13, 2010
UPDATED: 3:09 pm CST March 13, 2010

EAGLE, Wis. -- An injured Wisconsin soldier now has the keys to a brand new home built entirely by volunteers.Escorted by veterans, police officers, and firefighters, the Schulz family arrived at their new home Saturday.Army Specialist Jason Schulz lost both of his legs while serving in Iraq.“I was one week away from coming home when I got blown up,” said Schulz. “And it's life-changing you know.”Because of those changes, the national, nonprofit organization Homes For Troops stepped in to help.“I want him to have this,” said Homes For Troops volunteer Dick Thome. “It's not enough, but it's what we can do.”The organization collects money, materials, and volunteers to build new barrier-free homes at no cost to the injured veterans.“It kind of restores their sense of independence,” said Larry Gills of Homes For Troops. “They have total access in this house, so his ‘honey-do’ list is about the get much bigger because he can do the laundry and stuff like that.”Thome said some of the volunteers hadn’t even been in the military.“Some of these guys were never in the service, but they wanted to help and it makes a brotherhood, it makes you a human being,” said Thome.Some volunteers said it takes less time than paid labor.“I built houses for a long time and did it with a lot of different people, paid contractors and it took them months,” said volunteer Dan Youngs. “We did this with all volunteers and it took us five months; this is unbelievable.”Schulz himself finds it very unbelievable.“You have no idea how many people came through in the community to help out, and I'll never take it for granted,” said Schulz. “I appreciate everything everyone has done.”With keys in hand, the Schulz family will now be able to make this new house their home.The organization is still looking for volunteers to paint the exterior of the home. If you’d like to help or learn more about the organization, you can visit their website at www.homesforourtroops.org, or go to Channel 12’s site www.wisn.com and clink on the link on our home page.

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A welcoming home for our Troops.

Welcoming home our men and women doesn't end after the crowd disperses, it MUST continue on for the life of the Veteran! They've served us, now we will serve them with programs that work so they reintegrate into society.

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