A group of Home Depot employees used their unique skills to celebrate Veterans Day a little early with the residents of the Veterans Transitional Living Program.
Laughter mingled with the sounds of hammers at the employees and veterans built a new pavilion behind the facility.
One resident, Daniel, marveled at the help as he mixed cement.
“This is awesome,” he said. “When it’s raining we have almost no place to go. In the summer we need a covered place.”
The project is one in a series of improvements made with the help of Home Depot. Earlier in the year, the home was able to do some landscaping and install energy efficient windows and solar panels with the help of the Home Depot Foundation.
But this was the first time employees came out to lend a hand.
“We hope we can make life easier for them,” said Jack Parker III, the manager of the Bert Kouns location. “When you talk about funding, this is not going to be first on the list. That’s where we come in.”
In addition to the pavilion, they also planned to build a covered bus stop, which Daniel called a “godsend.” Many of the veterans rely on public transportation to get to work.
The Veterans Transitional Living Program houses 56 homeless veterans, and connects them with all of the services they need to stabilize their lives and live independently.