The Home Depot Foundation Invests $6.6M to Build, Repair & Renovate Homes for Veterans
More Than 400 U.S. Military Veterans Receiving Housing Support Through Latest Grants by the Home Depot Foundation
Originally published on Built From Scratch
ATLANTA, April 5, 2022 /3BL Media/ – More than 400 U.S. military veterans nationwide will receive new, renovated or repaired homes thanks to an additional $6.6 million granted by The Home Depot Foundation to several of its nonprofit partners. Through these grants, the Foundation will provide home modifications and critical home repairs that address the individual needs of combat-wounded, low-income and disabled veterans.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 1 million veterans serving after 9/11 have a severe service-connected disability. These veterans may often require significant home modifications to be able to live independently and comfortably. Together with partners like the Gary Sinise Foundation and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation has provided more than 140 specially adapted smart homes to combat-wounded veterans since 2011. These latest grants will help construct an additional 12 smart homes for veterans.
“The Home Depot Foundation’s support over the last seven years has helped us touch the lives of so many of our defenders and their families,” said Gary Sinise, founder and chairman of the board, Gary Sinise Foundation. “In creating the Gary Sinise Foundation, it was my hope to provide a reliable way for our fellow citizens to share in the joy of giving back to our heroes. And, together, we are doing just that, doing our very best to meet the needs of our warriors in what can be some of their most challenging moments.”
The Foundation has also partnered with Meals on Wheels America for more than a decade to provide home repairs and modifications to help veterans age independently in their own homes. The Foundation’s grants award $2.3 million to Meals on Wheels America to support 275 senior veterans, as well as an additional $1 million to Meals on Wheels Atlanta, which will provide home repairs to more than 100 aging veterans in The Home Depot’s hometown.
“Supporting an older adult’s ability to age in place safely and with dignity is of the utmost importance to Meals on Wheels America, and we’re so grateful that our growing partnership with The Home Depot Foundation helps us to realize this vision,” said Ellie Hollander, president and CEO, Meals on Wheels America. “Their support makes a tremendous difference in the lives of senior veterans across the country, and together, along with our local programs, we’ve been able to make critical home repairs and modifications that have helped over 1,900 veterans stay comfortably in their homes – right where they want to be.”
A $1.2 million grant to Purple Heart Homes will provide critical home repairs to at least 80 veterans. Since 2012, the Foundation and Purple Heart Homes have completed home repairs and modifications for veterans with service-connected disabilities in 42 states. The organizations will celebrate 10 years of partnership later this year.
The Home Depot Foundation has pledged to invest half of a billion dollars in veteran causes by 2025. Since 2011, the Foundation and Team Depot, The Home Depot’s associate volunteer force, have invested more than $400 million and improved more than 50,000 veteran homes and facilities through 1.25 million hours of service.
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