After September 11, 2001 the lives of all Americans were changed. The military deployments during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom have drastically changed the lives of our service members.
After watching a news report about a solider whom lost both of his legs while in Iraq, John Gonsalves, a construction supervisor from Massachusetts, started to think how he could help those whom have lost so much while serving our country. Gonsalves decided that he would use his skills to help build homes that met the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act for those severely injured during combat.
Gonsalves found out quickly that there wasn't an organization where he could volunteer his skills. Once he found this out, Gonsalves traveled meeting with injured service members and their loved ones and spoke with different Veteran's organizations. After seeing what these people needed, Gonsalves knew that most handicapped housing wasn't going to work for the types of disabilities that happen during war. It had become clear to him that there was a need for adequate housing for our disabled Veterans. Because of this, Gonsalves founded Homes for Our Troops in February 2004.
Homes for Our Troops built a handful of homes while the word spread about this organization nationwide. Since then this organization has built more than fifty specially adapted homes to severely disabled Veterans at no cost to the service member and their family. Homes for Our Troops received a 4 star rating for Charity Navigator. The American Institute of Philanthropy has included Homes for Out Troops on their "Top Rated Veterans & Military Charities" list.
If your interested in helping this worthy charity there are many ways you can help. Besides monetary donations, Homes for Our Troops needs help from local communities for materials, tradesmen services and other key volunteer positions.
I have several friends and family members help Homes for Our Troops on several occasions. Each of them had their own positive experience and many decided to volunteer multiple times. Have you helped out Homes for Our Troops before? Do you know of any similar organizations?
Very nice indeed I’ll probably download it. Thanks
А! Pretty post-Nice. Je viens de tombé sur votre blog et je voulais dire que j'ai vraiment apprécié la navigation de votre blog. En tout cas, je vais être abonnés à votre flux et j'espère que vous écrire de nouveau bientôt!
Have a DYNAMITE day my friend!