A
Hero’s New Home
Homes For Our Troops Is Building A Wellington House For Disabled Army Vet Steven Holloway Story by Ron Bukley Photos by Susan Lerner
Army veteran Steven Holloway will likely spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair after a sniper’s bullet severed his spinal cord while he was serving in Iraq. After 15 years in the service, Sgt. 1st Class Holloway was a patrol leader training Iraqi police in 2007 when his team was called to assist injured soldiers at the scene of an explosion. Holloway was shot while he was assisting a severely injured soldier. Due to his disability, Holloway was discharged. He now lives in a townhouse in Lantern Walk in Royal Palm Beach with his wife and three children, but the home is not fully wheelchair accessible. “There haven’t been any modifications done to it except a ramp put into the house,” he said, explaining that none of the sinks, counters or bathrooms have been adapted. An organization called Homes for Our Troops is about to change that. Enlisting the aid of area builders through general contractor Wally Sanger of Royal Concrete Concepts, Homes for Our Troops will begin construction next month on a fully wheelchair-friendly home in Wellington for Holloway and his family. Homes for Our Troops is a national nonprofit organization founded by
Massachusetts builder John Gonsalves in 2004 to help veterans who have been wounded and returned home with disabilities since Sept. 11, 2001. The organization raises donations of money, building materials and professional labor, and coordinates the process of building a home that provides maximum freedom of movement and the ability of veterans to live more independently. The homes provided by Homes for Our Troops are given at no cost to the veterans.
Disabled Army veteran Steven Holloway spends time with his 14-month-old daughter Isabella.
“There’s a pretty long list of things that will be put into this home that are going to make life a lot easier for me,” said Holloway, who learned about Homes for Our Troops while undergoing rehabilitation at the Tampa VA hospital. “The word gets put out in those special units — I was in a spinal cord unit — and there is an application process. You fill out the information and they WELLINGTON THE MAGAZINE • APRIL 2010
Apr-46-51 - Homes for Troops.indd 47
47
3/25/2010 2:11:54 PM