On Friday, the Heart of Texas Veteran's One Stop is breaking ground on a transitional home for a veteran with a family.
They will be able to live in the house located in the 1200 block of Merganser Way between six to nine months.
The Operation Forward March veteran's transitional home was made possible through the generosity of a private donor from the Children's Mission Network. The home is being built by Stylecraft Builders.
Heart of Texas Veteran's One Stop Executive Director DeLisa Russell said those transitioning out of the military or needing services would be eligible to apply to live at the new home, which will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
"It's hard to make some decisions and find the resources in doing what you need to do, maybe if you are sleeping on your mother in law's couch," Russell said. "We would like to be able to put them in a home environment not only so that they can be working on themselves and their family can be working on the things that they need but also that they can learn about home ownership."
According to Russell, The tenants of the new home who will only have to make a small contribution toward the bills of the house will participate in the programs offered by the organization.
State Rep. Doc Anderson (R-56) was at the groundbreaking in support of the program.
"This is a great opportunity to help repay those men and women and help them get them back into society," Rep. Anderson said.
Veteran Walter Smith who served in the military for 28 years said having a home will make a difference to veterans and their families.
"It's a wonderful gleam of hope to come from a family who comes from a military structure and then they come out to the civilian world to find out that is very hard to get settled again," Smith said. "Home is the base, if you have your family here. That is the base to build yourself."
The family is expected to get the keys to the new home in December. The application process is expected to start next month.
For more information, call 254-297-7171.
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