Mikell Kiersey flew more than 100 Air Force missions during the Vietnam War and came home with permanent disabilities. On Veterans Day, 20 volunteers in orange aprons showed up at his Hendersonville house and rebuilt it, tearing out his old deck and renovating his kitchen with a new oven and fresh flooring.
The project, reported by WSMV, paired The Home Depot Foundation with Operation Stand Down Tennessee to transform Kiersey's home. Home Depot store manager Theresa Henderson led the 20 Team Depot volunteers who spent the day replacing the deck and outfitting the kitchen, and the station reports the company donated the flooring and oven used in the repairs.
For Kiersey, the timing couldn't have mattered more. He and his family had piled up more than $30,000 in credit-card debt while his mother was dying of cancer, according to the WSMV report, leaving little room in the budget for home repairs that had clearly been put off too long.
A Veteran Overwhelmed by Strangers' Generosity
Kiersey said the volunteers were doing the work for free and that their help overwhelmed him. He added that the renovations will greatly relieve his worries, and said he will never be able to thank the volunteers enough, per the station's report.
Henderson, for her part, framed the work as part of the company's identity rather than a one-off gesture. She said giving back is one of Home Depot's core values, the same report notes.
Part of a Nationwide Push on Veteran Housing
The Hendersonville repair is one of hundreds of volunteer projects underway as part of The Home Depot Foundation's annual Celebration of Service initiative, which the company says is marking its 15-year anniversary of serving veterans. According to The Home Depot Foundation, the 2026 campaign runs from September 8 through November 20 and includes veteran housing projects in all 50 states plus Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Foundation says it has improved more than 70,000 veteran homes and facilities since 2011 and has invested more than $650 million in veteran causes over that span, with a goal of $750 million by 2030. A related Foundation announcement describes an even larger total commitment of $1 billion to veteran causes through 2032, aligning with the seed facts' note that the organization increased its pledge to that figure.
Tennessee has more than 430,000 veterans, according to The Home Depot Foundation, and the company's national figures put the stakes in sharper focus: more than 2.75 million veterans nationwide live in inadequate housing, and nearly 33,000 face homelessness on any given night. The Foundation also reports a more than 50% reduction in veteran homelessness over the 15 years preceding its announcement.
Local Need Keeps Climbing
Even with that progress, federal data cited by FOX 17 show homelessness among Tennessee veterans is moving the wrong direction locally: 659 veterans experienced homelessness in the state during a single night in 2025, up from 570 the year before. The National Low Income Housing Coalition, as cited by that same report, estimates Tennessee is short more than 138,000 affordable and available rental homes for its lowest-income households.
Operation Stand Down Tennessee, the nonprofit that helped make the Hendersonville project possible, provides rental assistance, eviction prevention and a food-insecurity program for veterans. The group's Katilyn Domingo has said it is fielding more requests from veterans as living costs rise, the WSMV report notes. Separately, WKRN reports the organization served more than 10,000 veterans in 2025 and expanded this year to cover 31 Middle Tennessee counties after adding 11 more.
The organization's broader housing program, aimed at veterans and families at risk of eviction or already experiencing homelessness, is detailed on Operation Stand Down Tennessee's own site. Similar Home Depot-backed repair efforts have popped up elsewhere this year; in North Charleston, South Carolina, staff and managers from a Summerville store spent three days rebuilding the back deck of 76-year-old Marine veteran Vernell Dunmeyer's home through a partnership with the nonprofit Warriors Haven, according to The Post and Courier, which also reported that Home Depot donated materials for her countertop, backsplash and appliance replacements.
