4 days ago
Veterans home chooses veteran for new home in Johnstown
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Veterans Community Panel concluded interviews for the Polacek Veterans Home.
This is in part due to JWF Industries announcing the initiative to give a veteran in Cambria or Somerset counties a home at no cost. Applicants had to fit a set of criteria to qualify for the initiative.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: JWF Industries offers free housing for Cambria, Somerset County veterans
The Veterans Community Panel consisted of nine representatives from local veteran outreach organizations. The panel consisted of:
Mark Fiorito, Special Forces Association
Dave Wagner, DAV
Savannah Dickey, Somerset County Veterans Affairs
Anita Moore, Representing NG/Reserve Veterans
Josh Hauser, Veterans Community Initiatives
Skip Steiner, American Legion District 20
Dave Seymour, VFW District 26
Kim Porster, VLP Housing
Bruce Jordan, NAACP Veteran Committee
'We want to bring a leader, a veteran leader, into a community, give them a home for their contributions and allow them to carry forward and help support the community that they're going to be living in,' Jeff Pounding, the lead of the panel, said.
The panel received more applications than expected for the home. Ten candidates were selected for the first round of interviews, followed by selecting the top five from that list for a second round of interviews.
'We've given them the questions already that we're going to ask so they feel comfortable,' Pounding said. 'They've been able to ask their family what they should answer. So when they come in, they don't have to be stressed.'
The winner was chosen after the second round of interviews Saturday, but the name has not been released to the public. That person will receive a house on an empty plot of land on Somerset Street in Johnstown.
The house design will be presented in front of the Johnstown City Council on June 4, with a vote on the design happening a week after. The construction of the foundation and utility lines will start afterwards.
With the help from Hosana Industries, a Christian charitable initiative that was awarded the contracting job, they plan to start construction on the house on July 14 with over 50 veterans helpng to build the structure using a 'blitz build', which Pounding says will take four days to complete the construction of the house.
'We're kind of in the preparation stage of it. We have to consolidate two lots into one so that we have a bigger footprint for the house to sit on and a bigger yard for people to enjoy,' Vision Together 2025 Executive Director Robert Forcey said.
The primary objective of the initiative is to address the issue of abandoned properties throughout the city. The veteran's home aims to add a spark to the rest of the area, helping to revamp the neighborhood.
'This past year alone, we've given out $150,000 in grants, $50,000 to new business recruitment grants, $50,000 to existing facade grants for businesses and $50,000 for repairing people's houses here,' Forcey said. 'While we're looking towards the future and trying to build more houses, folks still have to fix the houses that they've got. So we're trying to help out with all of those pieces as we move forward.'
Once construction is complete, the house will be dedicated with a ceremony on July 17, the same day the winning family moves in. And over the next six years, the initiative will look to build 21 homes in that timeframe, adding one additional home each year.
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