The Cellar Image of the Day

xoxoxoBruce Sunday Jul 12 12:13 AM

July 12, 2009: Homes for Disabled Vets

I caught this on EHOWA NSFW.

Quote:

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."

Great program, although way too small to help all that need it.

If she gets a protection order and divorces him, who gets the special house?

link

Alluvial Sunday Jul 12 10:37 AM

Apparently the funding for each home is from the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant program administered by the VA. The fine print would speak to whether the individual serviceman/woman owns the home, or whether the spouses own it jointly.

Why do you have the Susquehanna in your sig?

xoxoxoBruce Sunday Jul 12 11:34 AM

You mean V.A. rules beat state community property laws?

Susquehanna? because I can.

Stormieweather Sunday Jul 12 11:58 AM

Are those steps leading up to the front door?

chrisinhouston Sunday Jul 12 12:02 PM

Great and if he needs help with keeping up the landscaping maybe George Bush will stop by and help clear brush!

xoxoxoBruce Sunday Jul 12 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormieweather

Are those steps leading up to the front door?

No.

Alluvial Sunday Jul 12 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

You mean V.A. rules beat state community property laws?

I really dunno. But I'll bet the VA has thought of that scenario.

Quote:

Susquehanna? because I can.

That quote has some crazy tenses going on. :p They say that the Susquehanna is so ancient that it predates the breakup of Pangea.

Undertoad Sunday Jul 12 06:20 PM

I grew up with the Susquehanna as my local river, and I have fond memories of it, so I enjoy Bruce's sig.

The Susquehanna cut through a mountain range. It is a mighty thing.

slang Monday Jul 13 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

If she gets a protection order and divorces him, who gets the special house?

She does....right after the V.A. amputates her legs. It's written right into the contract.

Alluvial Monday Jul 13 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

The Susquehanna cut through a mountain range. It is a mighty thing.

Agreed. It's also super-kewl as it's so very ancient, as I mentioned before.

All rivers are kewl to me, though.

Shawnee123 Monday Jul 13 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alluvial

Agreed. It's also super-kewl as it's so very ancient, as I mentioned before.

All rivers are kewl to me, though.

A river runs through it...

I love my river. Yes, it's my river. It's in my backyard, and I have claimed it as mine as Queens of the Planet are wont to do.

There is so much history, and not just for this town, but for my ancestors as well.

kerosene Monday Jul 13 02:18 PM

This is a really sweet story. And it is in my hometown...he picked a nice part of town, too.

lupin..the..3rd Monday Jul 13 08:33 PM

Nice! It's great that there's a program to help these brave folks out. I'm sure it ain't cheap to retrofit an existing home to be "handicap friendly" so doubtful they could afford it on their own. Bravo.

richlevy Monday Jul 13 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

If she gets a protection order and divorces him, who gets the special house?

link

A protection order from a double amputee?

xoxoxoBruce Tuesday Jul 14 01:38 AM

Of course. All she has to do is say he scares her, bada boom, he's out on his ass.

Your reply here?

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