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 Hundreds of volunteers build house for iraqi war veteransHomes for veteran soldier are built by military volunteer with donated materials. (by Melanie Stetson freewoman, CS monitoring device, April 2008) Sgt. Brian Fountaine was recovering in Bruno Walter Reed Army checkup Center when he got an unexpected visitor who offered to build him a house â€" free of complaint. The visitant was John Gonsalves, founder of Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit group that builds houses for badly injured veteran soldier returning from Iraq and Islamic State of Afghanistan.Sergeant Fountaine, who lost both legs below the knees in Iraq, turned to his male parent after Mr. Gonsalves left and asked: "Is this guy for real?" He is. This past weekend, Fountaine moved into a three-bedroom ranch here in Plymouth, Mass., completed with the help of 100 of military volunteer and donated building supplies and land. Homes for Our Troops saves an norm of 60 percentage on the cost of every home because of part like these. "When a vet is in need, people come out of everyplace to help," says Mr. Gonsalves, a former contractor who calls on tradesmen and provider across the state to build the homes. The homes are not "one size fits all," but are adapted to each vet's needs, Gonsalves says. While Fountaine gets about easily on his prosthetics, sometimes he needs to use a wheelchair, so his home was constructed with an open floor plan, extra-wide doors for the wheelchair, and a bath with special features. So far, the federal agency, based in Taunton, Mass., has houses completed or under way in 20 states. Fountaine's is the 25th house the group has finished, and Gonsalves hopes to grow big sufficiency never to have to turn down a vet who qualifies for the group's services. Of the about 30,000 injured veteran soldier, he estimates about 2,000 are in the kind of status that qualifies for help. "To have a home that was built every second of its construction with Brian in mind, and everybody's thoughts being on love for Brian, and repaying him for what he's done â€" I've never been in a place like this," says Mary Long, Fountaine's fiancée. "Ever since I came home from the hospital ... It's been literally amazing," Fountaine says. " I could never fathom the amount of support I've had, even from perfect strangers. They're against the war, they don't like the president, they don't like what's going on, but when us guys come home ... We're taken care of.... As my dad says, 'It's been a great ending to a bad beginning.' " Fountaine and Ms. Long will be married June 8, the second anniversary of his "alive day," the day he survived the bomb that exploded under his Humvee. Then they will come home to a house built by friends they didn't know they had. More Volunteer Abroad News |