Volunteers spent Saturday morning working on landscaping at a mortgage-free home built for Army Staff Sgt. Shane Savage, a severely injured Afghanistan veteran and Purple Heart recipient, gathering in Ramona from 10 a.m. to noon to complete landscaping at the custom property in Washington County.
The home was donated to Savage by Homes for Our Troops, the nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes for severely injured post-9/11 veterans, according to Homes For Our Troops. As reported by News On 6, volunteers gathered for a weekend push to complete the landscaping at the residence.
Savage was severely injured on September 3, 2010, during his fifth combat deployment, when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device while he was serving as a combat engineer in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The organization's own account of his service notes that Savage joined the Marines in 2001 before later enlisting in the Army, a history laid out on his Homes For Our Troops profile page.
A House Built Around His Needs
The custom home will feature accessibility modifications including widened doorways, roll-under countertops and sinks, and a roll-in shower, per Homes for Our Troops. The organization says an open floor plan paired with wide doorways and hallways will allow Savage to move safely and easily access every room of the house.
Those features are part of a broader design standard the nonprofit applies across its builds. Per bartlesvilleradio.com, the homes include wider doorways and hallways, automatic doors, accessible kitchen and bathroom fixtures, generators and safe rooms. Homes For Our Troops notes separately that each adapted home is equipped with more than 40 major special adaptations and exceeds ADA standards.
Savage has said an accessible home would relieve worry about moving around and risking a fall or further injury. He also told News On 6 that receiving the keys lifted a heavy burden, after he found the Department of Veterans Affairs' building process frustrating.
Community Turnout and a Statewide Mission
A community celebration kickoff event was held in Ramona for Savage and his family, with the Tulsa Mohawk Post 308 American Legion Riders leading an escort and welcome ceremony, according to the same bartlesvilleradio.com report. The gathering reflects a pattern seen elsewhere in the state and region: in Miami, Oklahoma, Iraq War veteran Billy Chandler received a homecoming through the program, and his welcome ceremony let veterans and community members sign beams that would later be used in his future home's foundation, as reported by FourStatesHomepage.com.
The Ramona build is part of a much larger national effort. Homes For Our Troops has built more than 440 specially adapted homes for injured veterans nationwide since its founding in 2004, the station's report notes. Even so, nearly 1,800 severely injured post-9/11 veterans across the country still need adapted housing, according to Military Times, which also reports the organization currently has 68 active home-build projects in various stages of construction nationwide.
Homes For Our Troops broke ground in August on a mortgage-free, specially adapted home for Army Sgt. Tyler Hall in Palmer, Alaska, according to Your Alaska Link. For Savage, the Ramona project has reached a landscaping milestone, with volunteers completing work meant to give him back a measure of independence in his own home.
