Disabled U.S. Army veteran Nathan Kalwicki never thought he’d be a mortgage-free new construction homeowner. An amputee from western New York, who was injured in Afghanistan in 2011, is set to move into a new accessibility-built home at the end of May thanks to the national nonprofit organization A Soldier’s Journey Home.
“This is basically a dream come true, I don’t really have words to describe it,” Kalwicki said, in a testimonial for the organization, posted online and reviewed by Military.com. “I’m really looking forward to establishing roots in the community with my wife.”
A Soldier’s Journey Home is an organization that unites first responders, veterans and others from all over the nation to build specially adapted, mortgage-free homes for veterans with disabilities. Kalwicki says he was connected to the organization through a third party.
“How I found out about a ‘Soldier’s Journey Home’? I had built a relationship with Semper Fi America’s Fund, and a case manager there reached out and sent me a message, ‘Are you interested in a house being built?’ And I was like hmmm?,” said Kalwicki.
Initial Skepticism Over Mortgage-Free Home
Semper Fi is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides a variety of programs to assist wounded veterans in all branches of the Armed Forces. Semper Fi connected Kalwicki to A Soldier’s Journey Home, and in a few week’s time, Kalwicki was notified he’d been approved, and a house would be built for him and his wife, Veronica.
“They build a house in two weeks every year. About 75 to 100 volunteers come out and do it, and that’s still kind of hard to believe, I guess. I know there’s a lot of good people out there, but is there a catch?” said Kalwicki. “At this point in my life, yeah, I am interested in that.”
Kalwicki’s wife, Veronica, had the same reservations.
“I was like, ‘I’ve never heard of A Soldier’s Journey Home,'” she said in the same online testimonial reviewed by Military.com. “But I did a bunch of research, and we watched a gazillion YouTube videos together, and I was like, this is real. I really hope that this actually happens for us.”
Kalwicki’s Long Road to Recovery
It’s been a hard road for Kalwicki. He joined the United States Army in 2010 and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. While serving there, he was shot in his right leg, which led him to become an amputee.
“About six months into that deployment, I was wounded in a routine mission,” Kalwicki said. “I sort of found myself basically shot on the ground.”
Kalwicki woke up in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with his dad next to him, who told him he was wounded and had lost his leg. From there, his recovery was long and grueling, involving Kalwicky learning to walk again on a prosthetic leg. Homeownership was low on his priority list until years later, as a married man.
“We haven’t really ever felt like we had a home. I haven’t felt like I had a home since I was 18,” Kalwicki said. “Words cant describe how grateful and how thankful we are.”
Volunteers Construct Home in Two Weeks
Dozens of volunteers are in Western New York helping to build the ADA-compliant, mortgage-free house in Kalwicki’s hometown of West Falls. Now that the initial framing is done, the plan is for volunteers to complete the home in two weeks, handing Kalwicki’s the keys and welcoming the couple home.
“For me, this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced,” Kalwicki said at a dedication ceremony for his new build. “The community, the brotherhood, the sisterhood. Thank you, thank you.”
The president of A Soldier’s Journey Home, Brian Fitzpatrick, is one of the volunteers lending a hand to help build the Kalwicki home, in honor of Kalwicki’s sacrifice and service to our country.
“Everyone has their own reasons, but mine is September 11,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement released to Military.com. “Soldiers who carried on the battle for us needed to be taken care of. We had so many wounded soldiers coming home, and we had this idea of being able to do a home in two weeks and give them a deserving home.”
Other volunteers include a team from West Herr Automotive Group and the company’s nonprofit, the Scott Bieler Family Foundation.
“We were so honored to be at the groundbreaking ceremony for A Soldier’s Journey Home as they began building the mortgage-free home for this year’s recipient, Nathan Kalwicki,” read a statement from the company posted on its website and shared with Military.com. “Together, West Herr and The Scott Bieler Family Foundation made an additional combined donation of $50,000 to support this incredible mission. This build will be completed on May 30th, and we cannot wait to see the incredible impact it will have on Nathan and his wife.”
Read the full article here