Several area businesses assisted in the Building Homes for Heroes giveaway for U.S. Army Specialist Jamie Gary in McCordsville.
Submitted photo
MCCORDSVILLE – A veteran received a mortgage-free home in McCordsville as a gift from Building Homes for Heroes and several area businesses.
Army Specialist Jamie Gary and her children were welcomed to her home earlier this month in an event that included a procession by the McCordsville Police Department, Vernon Township Fire Department, Indiana Patriot Guard and local government officials.
Building Homes for Heroes is a national organization that began after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. More than 300 homes have been gifted to the nation’s injured veterans, with an average of one home gifted every 11 days.
“It was kind of like how you have every emotion, and you don’t know which one is going to come out first: you’re on the verge of tears every moment,” Gary said after the event. “It was just overwhelming and breathtaking.”
The McCordsville home was gifted with the generosity of Chase, Sphere 1, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Advance Auto Parts, and other partners.
Gary, who currently lives in Georgia as a traveling nurse, will be relocating to McCordsville and she’s looking forward to having her own home and building a community, being “finally settled.”
Gary joined the military right out of high school in 2000, served in the Florida National Guard and then served active duty in the U.S. Army. After serving for 14 years, she was honorably discharged in 2014.
During her service, Specialist Gary was stationed all over the United States, and was also deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. According to a press release from Building Homes for Heroes, Gary experienced many situations that affected her mental health as a member of a transportation unit. She and her units pulled missions through the mountainsides of Afghanistan and through busy cities, faced suicide car bombers, IEDs, mortars, and both direct and indirect fire. She sustained a broken jaw, as well as injuries to her shoulder, her knees, and her hips, resulting in shoulder repair surgery, and both knee and hip replacements. She also suffers from Graves Disease and PTSD from the ongoing state of stress and fear maintained overseas.
Gary has been awarded the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the NATO Medal.
She currently works as a traveling registered nurse.
“I’ve been traveling and never settled anywhere; it never felt like home, and as a single mom with three kids and just trying to get them through college and the high school years you do what you’ve got to do.”
She said the three bedroom, two bath home is exactly what she was hoping for: it has the kitchen that opens out to the living room, which she’s always wanted, and a waterfall feature in her backyard. Waterfalls have always been a source for tranquility and stress relief, and she said those who designed the home had no idea so she “cried like a big baby” when she saw that.
Her children are 21, 19 and 15. She wants to thank those who gave her the home, not just for the impact on her but on her entire family. The children’s father was also in the military, so the children had a life of “constantly getting pulled one way or the other; nothing being solidified.” She said she’s looking forward to a new life in Indiana where she has friends, and she plans to continue nursing.
For more on Building Homes for Heroes, visit buildinghomesforheroes.org
