A military veteran and her three children are moving to Indiana and making McCordsville their new home, thanks to the national nonprofit Building Homes for Heroes and its donors.
On May 17, retired Army Specialist Jaimie Gary and her son Brandon Gary first saw their new mortgage-free home on Abilene Place in McCordsville during a home-gifting ceremony organized by Building Homes for Heroes.
Building Homes for Heroes is a national nonprofit committed to building or modifying homes and gifting mortgage-free to injured veterans and their families.
Jaimie Gary joined the military when she finished high school in 2000. She served in the Florida National Guard and then was on active duty in the U.S Army. She was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. She received several injuries and battles Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder, and PTSD. She was honorably discharged in 2014.
Gary moved from Florida with her family. She said she was overwhelmed but happy to see her new home for the first time.
“It’s just nice to know that people care,” she said. “People are still out there doing good.”
Building Homes for Heroes collaborates with donors, such as Advanced Auto, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Lowe’s to find and fund homes for recipients.
Building Homes for Heroes Operations Manager Rusty Smallwood said since its founding in 2006, the organization has gifted more than 320 homes to injured veterans. By Sept. 11 of this year, the nonprofit will have gifted 343 homes.
“The significance of that number is that there were 343 New York City Fire Department folks that were killed in 9/11,” Smallwood said.
Veterans who are gifted homes are found through referral or the BHH Veterans Home Award program.
For more about the Veteran Home Award Program, visit buildinghomesforheroes.org/for-veterans.
