Purple Heart Homes improves quality of life for veterans

Michael Crowe
Michael Crowe

Staff Writer

Aug 06, 2020

Three million Americans are affected.

Let that number sink in. 

Three million Americans are service-disabled veterans; 90% of whom don’t have the means to adjust their homes to accommodate their disabilities.

This story isn’t about staggering numbers, however. It’s about real people who sacrificed for their country and are having their lives transformed through the generosity of others. It’s about people helping people. It’s about a nonprofit organization called Purple Heart Homes that was created to reduce those staggering numbers.

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Purple Heart Homes was founded in 2008 by two Iraq combat-wounded veterans, John Gallina and the late Dale Beatty, to help these disabled veterans improve their quality of life. The organization works with partners like Lowe’s to offer housing solutions to veterans. It provides critical home repairs to meet mobility and safety needs and assists in home ownership.

“On the battlefield, you leave no man or woman behind,” said Paul Cockerham, development director at Purple Heart Homes. “We feel like some of these veterans have been left behind, and we’re doing our part to make sure they’re not left behind.” 

In July, Paul Hartman, a 94-year old Navy veteran of World War II, received the 600th completed project by Purple Heart Homes. Hartman served in a flotilla in the Western Pacific as an Electrician’s Mate for two years during the war. This summer, Purple Heart Homes, Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s volunteers built a new ramp and deck along with other modifications to help renovate the veteran’s home.

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“Your service matters,” Gallina proclaimed to Hartman during a Purple Heart Homes mission complete ceremony at Hartman’s home earlier this summer. “It mattered then, and it matters today.”

Lowe’s partners with Purple Heart Homes through a $500,000 commitment to help veterans age in place and become homeowners. That grant is part of a larger $4.5 million commitment by Lowe’s to military partners in 2020.  Lowe’s has a longstanding appreciation for the military community, whether as a customer, supplier or one of its 20,000 military associates.

Nate Whitten – Lowe’s senior director of online merchandising – attended the 600th project completion ceremony. Prior to Lowe’s, he served in the U.S. Army and worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs where he witnessed inadequacies firsthand. 

“I’ve seen the struggle the veteran community has in getting the support it needs,” Whitten said. “Seeing Purple Heart Homes take Lowe’s grant and impact a veteran’s life is just amazing.

“It’s a massive impact.”