Wounded veteran receives new home

NEWNAN, Ga. - Veterans sacrifice so much for freedom and many of them come back badly wounded. Sometimes wounded warriors spend years in hospitals rehabilitating.

A nonprofit recognizes this problem and is providing homes to these soldiers. Friday, life for a soldier and his family got a little easier. They were handed keys to their new mortgage free home.

The Hollimon family knew when they pulled up they had the home. What they didn’t know was contractors have been working for weeks renovating it.

Staff Sgt. Dennis Hollimon, his wife and two children are blown away by their new Newnan home which was made possible by Building Homes for Heroes, a nonprofit organization that provides mortgage free homes to our wounded vets.

“It’s guys like you that help us come home and be able to relax from the everyday issues that are a part of this world, so I just want to say thank you,” the Purple Heart recipient said.

The past few years haven’t been easy on the family. When the children were just four and six their father, who was fighting the war in Afghanistan, was badly injured when his unit was ambushed. Staff Sgt. Hollimon took a direct hit. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and lost an arm.

“My medic brought me back to life and he talked to me. I was just telling him ‘I’m a man of God. I believe in my faith and I believe he will get me out of here,” said the staff sergeant.

Hollimon spent over two years at Walter Reed rehabilitating. Once out, Hollimon heard about the nonprofit and applied for the home and got it.

Chase Bank donated the home in Newnan to the nonprofit and Kim Valdyke with the nonprofit was in charge of bringing the home up-to-date

“It’s a great day to see the weight that is lifted off the veteran to know they have a home for their family. That their family is going to be safe is the most rewarding day you can have,” said Valdyke.

The Hollimons now have a place to call home.

“We’re going to bring a lot of warmth to it and we’re going to get a lot of love. I just want wait to be able to sit down and enjoy a nice drink and watch my favorite team play on the screen,” said Hollimon.

Building Homes for Heroes started in 2006 and since then they have built nearly a hundred homes with no plans of slowing down.