As Homes for Our Troops celebrates 20 years, wounded veterans share their moving stories
TAUNTON — U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Michael Downing, while deployed in Afghanistan in September 2008, lost both his legs from an explosive device.
His daughter Alexandra Keilty said the custom adaptable home they received in 2010 in Middleboro, complete with fully handicapped accessible features and appliances, “allowed us to be a normal family.”
The home gave Downing, who died in 2020, the physical and emotional freedom to do tasks on his own, which allowed the family to “have normal arguments, like who’s doing the dishes or who’s taking out the trash,” Keilty told a gathering to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Taunton non-profit Homes for Our Troops, which gave the family the home back in 2010.
The whole experience also inspired Keilty to volunteer and eventually work for a few years with Homes for our Troops.
The organization's president and CEO, retired Brigadier General Tom Landwermeyer, “bragged on" the organization's staff at the celebration on Tuesday, Feb. 6, to mark the 20th anniversary.
“They are not in it for the fame or fortune. They are here for the right reasons. For this mission. For these veterans and families,” he said, adding that 30% of nonprofits don’t make it past 10 years, while Homes for our Troops has staff that’s been employed for longer than that.
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What is Homes for Our Troops?
Founded in 2004, Homes for our Troops is a Taunton-based non-profit which funds and builds specially adapted custom homes for post-9/11 wounded and disabled military veterans across the country at no costs to the veterans. Headquartered at 6 Main St. in downtown Taunton, the organization has built homes for 373 veterans in 45 states since its inception, said Executive Director Bill Ivey.
“We are honored to have Homes for our Troops right here in Taunton. This community is dedicated to our country’s veterans. To have you here means the world to us,” said Mayor Shaunna O’Connell, who presented the organization with a letter of recognition by the city.
Other officials in attendance included State Sen. Marc Pacheco, State Rep. Carol Doherty, and Joseph Kennedy III, former U.S. representative and currently United States Special Envoy to Northern Ireland.
“What you are seeing here is an extraordinary act of our country at its best,” said Kennedy, who added he has no doubt Homes for Our Troops will reach its 400th home by the end of this year.
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Rebuilding lives
Numerous veterans and their families who received homes from Homes for Our Troops were in attendance.
Kevin Campbell, a retired staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, suffered a severe back injury in 2010 while deployed in Qatar, which worsened over the years and has since left him needing crutches or a wheelchair for mobility. An additional diagnosis of lupus, which meant avoiding all long-term sun exposure, resulted in being discharged from service.
“They decided they didn’t want a vampire,” joked Campbell, who served for 16 years.
Campbell said he was living in his mother’s garage for a few years when he contacted Homes for our Troops. In 2022 he finally received his handicapped accessible, custom home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
“It’s top-end appliances and construction. It’s amazing. They made everything about my life so much easier,” Campbell said.
Rebecca Mann, who was medically retired with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer in 2016 after serving 11 years in the Army, is living the rest of her life as a bilateral below-knee amputee, the result of a combination of injuries and failed medical operations.
In 2023, she received her custom home in Mattapoisett from Homes for our Troops.
“It’s been a complete life changer for me. I don’t have to struggle so much to do daily things. I really have gotten so much of my life back,” Mann said.
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Homes for Our Troops marks 20th year building houses for veterans
