Homes for Our Troops: Our Mission

text size

Homes for Our Troops is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization providing handicap accessible homes to veterans who have selflessly given to their country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries. The veterans we assist have the most serious of injuries, including loss of multiple limbs and varying severities of paralysis. Some have lost their sight or hearing in addition to their other injuries. We assist these injured service men and women and their immediate families by raising donations of money, land, building materials and professional labor and coordinating the process of building a new home or adapting an existing home for handicapped accessibility. We provide these services at no cost to the veteran.

Homes for Our Troops was founded in 2004 by John Gonsalves. Prior to founding Homes for Our Troops, Mr. Gonsalves worked for 20 years in the construction and home building industry. After seeing a television interview of a severely injured veteran, Mr. Gonsalves sought out an organization where he could lend his construction experience. When he found none, he formed Homes for Our Troops.

In the year and a half since we broke ground on our first home for Sgt. Peter Damon of Massachusetts, who lost both arms when a Blackhawk tire exploded, we have worked nationwide to complete 6 projects and we have a dozen more currently under construction or soon to be commenced.

These 18 projects mean that 18 severely injured veterans, 13 of whom are married, and with a total of 24 children among them, have or will soon have a home they can call their own - a home suited to their difficult physical needs arising as a result of their serving and sacrificing for our country.

We also have many disabled veterans who are eligible for our services but are on our project waiting list. Simply stated, we have to wait until we raise the necessary funds before we can build these handicap accessible homes. That's why your contribution to the Birdies for the Brave program is so important. You can increase your impact by letting your family, friends and co-workers know about this effort to raise funds for our injured veterans.

We have received recognition and support from many people. Phil Mickelson, the PGA and the TPC are all extremely energetic supporters of HFOT. President Bush recognized HFOT in a speech at Camp Pendleton in December 2004 and again in March 2006 at a meeting of grassroots military non-profits held in the Oval Office of the White House.

HFOT has also been featured on two episodes of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and was the subject of a documentary produced by the Pentagon Channel and aired on its worldwide cable network in April 2006.

You can view the Pentagon Channel documentary on our web site - www.homesforourtroops.org. The web site also has a wealth of information about our organization, the veterans we are honored to serve and the in-progress and completed home projects we have all across the country.

SPC Kyle Burleson, married and the father two young children, was paralyzed from the neck down when he was shot in the head by a sniper. His wife, Kristi Burleson, summed up the goal of Homes for Our Troops better than anyone.

"A new home is not just a place to live, but a fulfillment of our dream," Kristi said. "And for Kyle, it shows him that his sacrifice is truly appreciated by his country."

There are many more veterans awaiting our assistance, and we can serve these veterans only as quickly as we can raise the necessary donations of materials, labor and monetary contributions. That's why your joining with Phil and donating toward the Birdies for the Brave initiative is so important. Any amount, no matter how modest, gets us one step closer to building more homes for these most deserving of veterans.

For more information, visit our website at www.homesforourtroops.org