Veterans Build
HONOR PURPOSE CONFIDENCE EMPOWERMENT
Habitat for Humanity’s Veterans Build program is a national initiative to serve veterans with new homes, critical home repairs, and employment opportunities. We believe every veteran should have a sustainable, affordable housing opportunity and to have a base on which to build their lives and futures.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition finds that 2.5 million veterans heading households are at least 55 years of age. Of those 2.5 million veterans, 24 percent have housing cost burdens. Unlike our older civilians, our older veterans are more likely to have a disability — 35 percent versus 28 percent — which may require home modifications, health, and other supportive services as they age. Nearly 4 million of our veterans pay at least 30 percent of their income toward rent or mortgage, while more than 1.5 million pay at least 50 percent. As you can imagine, using half of your income to pay your rent or mortgage is an enormous strain on any budget.
These homes are part of a special project that focuses on veteran families in our local community. The Veterans Build project helps provide access to quality affordable housing, which allows the opportunity to have veteran families to engage with the community, and fellow veterans, and gives them the chance to serve others by volunteering.
We give a hand up, not a handout, to our Partner Families to help them learn new skills, grow their confidence, and make a positive difference.
A special thanks to our Veterans Build sponsors, Atmos Energy,
Occidental Petroleum, the Schlessman Family Foundation, and Guaranty Bank and Trust.
For sponsorship information, contact Cheri Witt-brown, CEO at cheri@greeleyhabitat.org
If you are a Veteran in need of affordable housing you can apply here!
Our Veteran Partner Families
Leroy, a United States Marine Corps Veteran served from 1977 to 1983. He is a single father of two children, Quiana and Enrique. Leroy has been a dedicated staff member of Carestream Health for over 12 years. As natives of Greeley, they look forward to building a home in the community they love.
"Having a home that we can afford, maintain, and enjoy has been a longtime dream of mine. I look forward to my children having their own rooms and a safe place to play, grow, and thrive. Thank you for giving us this opportunity!" -Leroy
The Hamm Family consists of James, Nicole, and their two sons Deavon and Oliver. The family lived in a three-bedroom home in Keenesburg and their rent was extremely expensive and the home was very unsafe because the landlord had no interest in upkeep or repairing existing problems. James was medically retired from the US Army in 2014, and the rent was far more than what they could afford so he started doing side jobs as a handyman to try and make ends meet. In their 6 years of living in Colorado James and his family had moved at least 3 times. For Deavon the eldest son, they thought that another short-term move would harm his ability to stay focused in school. They are excited about their new home and look forward to all the opportunities this home will open to them.
“I don’t have words for how thankful I am.” Zachary Reyes, the veteran who is to receive the home that is at the center of the first-ever veteran’s build in the state of Colorado, feels like he has “won the lottery.” Zachary and his wife Tiffany are parents to Aiden, 8 and Adrianna, 10, who both have big plans for decorating their own rooms, something they have never experienced. “We applied for our children” Tiffany states, mentioning that they have never lived where the kids could go out and play with friends. “We are excited that they can have friends now,” she says. Zachary is no stranger to discomfort, enlisted in the Navy during the Iraq war, but discomfort for your children is something else. In those coldest winter months, Zachary would crawl under their disintegrating home to thaw the pipes with a torch so that the family would have running water. “Our living conditions will be 100 times better than what they were,” says Tiffany. This is a family with new hope.