Wounded Heroes unveils 1st home
Wauconda-based Deer Point Homes will unveil the first home built through its partnership with the Wounded Heroes Foundation at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The program helps provide homes for servicemen and women severely injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The "big reveal" will take place at Shepherds Crossing, a Deer Point Homes community of 238 homes in north-suburban Zion, when the home is officially unveiled for former Marine Miguel Delgado, his wife and daughter. Local service personnel and the general public are welcome to attend the unveiling and "welcome the Delgados home."
At the event, Deer Point Homes also will announce a second home it plans to build through the program, which will be for retired Army Sergeant Gabriel Garriga. Additionally, Deer Point Homes will present a check for $130,000 to the Wounded Heroes Foundation, which represents the discount the builder is providing for the two homes.
"Through the generosity of our contractors and partners, we are so proud to present a brand new home to Miguel and his family to help them achieve their dream of homeownership," said Richard Pietranek Sr., CEO and founder of Deer Point Homes.
"We also are thrilled to be continuing our commitment to the Wounded Heroes Foundation by announcing plans for a second home for another wounded veteran who so bravely served our country," he added. "Miguel and Gabe are among the many servicemen and women who are severely injured, but want to pursue a career and provide a home for themselves and their families. When Wounded Heroes asked us to help, we did not hesitate to step in."
Delgado is a former Marine Sergeant from Waukegan, whose leg was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Now retired from active duty, Delgado, whose femur and heel were shattered and femoral artery was torn apart by the bomb, lives in Waukegan with his wife Cristhian and their 1-year-old daughter Ohani. They are also expecting a son in December. Delgado is pursuing an electrician apprenticeship.
The Delgado's new single-family home at Shepherds Crossing will include four bedrooms, 2½ baths and an attached two-car garage.
"We can never repay Rich Pietranek, Deer Point Homes and Wounded Heroes Foundation for what they are doing for us," said Delgado. "It's good to know there are people out there who care as much for veterans as they do. Hopefully one day there won't be any veterans without a home."
Garriga, 23, currently lives in Waukegan and graduated from high school in Rochelle. He was severely injured outside of Baghdad in July 2003, just months after his unit was deployed to Iraq. Garriga suffered second and third-degree burns over 45 percent of his body and was given a one percent chance of survival. He has had 30 surgeries and had to re-learn how to sit-up, walk and breathe.
"We lost our family home after I was injured when my parents took time away from their jobs to be with me in the hospital," said Garriga. "I'm so grateful and appreciative for what Deer Point Homes and the city of Zion are doing for me to help me get my life back. The home is especially great because the design is all on one level, which will be helpful when I have a major stomach surgery soon and will be in a wheelchair for a while."
Garriga's new home, located at Shepherds Crossing across the street from the Delgado's home, will be a ranch home with three bedrooms, two baths and an attached two-car garage. Deer Point Homes is fitting the home with wider doorways to accommodate a wheelchair.
According to Anna Sherony, founder of the Wounded Heroes Foundation, these two homes are the beginning of what she envisions as a national effort to aid wounded veterans.
"Thousands of our servicemen and women have lost limbs, incurred traumatic brain injuries, been badly burned, or become permanently blind or deaf while serving our country. They need our help all across the country," she said.
The Wounded Heroes Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 2003 when Sherony, the mother of a Marine who served in Iraq, learned of the physical, emotional and financial hardships faced by injured service personnel and their families upon returning home.
The city of Zion is also contributing to the program and has waived engineering and permit fees for the two homes.
Besides Wounded Heroes Foundation, Deer Point Homes, their contractors and the city of Zion, many local companies are making the homes for the Delgados and Garriga possible through their contributions.