4 days ago
Local veteran gifted dream home by A Soldier's Journey Home
EVANS, Ga (WJBF) – A local veteran injured in combat and his family were surprised with the home of their dreams Saturday afternoon.
A Soldier's Journey Home is a volunteer run organization working to build dream homes for worthy veteran recipients across the country.
Ret. SFC David Mathis deployed multiple times to Iraq and is a double amputee after suffering life-altering injuries from an improvised explosive device in 2017.
After walking through his new home, he says he was overcome with emotion. Saturday he saw his new home for the first time.
'The things that they've done, I would've never expected, and I never would have expected this at all. It's hard to put it in words,' said Mathis.
The house took two weeks to build and is entirely wheelchair accessible.
Throughout the process, Mathis' new neighbor offered a helping hand. Monte Latka says he had never heard of A Soldier's Journey Home before, but the organization was such an inspiration to him that he will be volunteering for the next project.
'It's just an absolutely fabulous deal and I'm excited to have them as neighbors. I'm going to do what I can to help out going forward with this cause,' Latka said.
The Evans High School Jr. ROTC raised the American Flag officially welcoming the Mathis family home.
Mathis says he cannot thank enough the organization and people who helped for building a home for him and his family.
'These people came from all across the country to do this work for me who they've never met, who they've never seen, and that's respectable and commendable,' Mathis said.
If you wish to learn more about A Soldier's Journey Home you can find the link here.
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