With motorcycle and Comal County sheriff escort, Staff Sergeant Michael Lage and his family were welcomed by cheers of well-wishers as they pulled into the driveway of their new home Friday June 7, 2019. Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) presented him with a new, fully furnished custom home with special adaptations to meet his needs as an injured Soldier. His new home is just outside the Blanco County line off FM 306 in Spring Branch.

Homes For Our Troops was founded in 2004 in Massachusetts. A contractor met a young Veteran who was injured while deployed. The contractor offered to build a home for the young man assuring him it would be more convenient. The Veteran agreed with the condition that he would not be the only Veteran to benefit from the act of generosity.

Fast forward 15 years to Staff Sergeant Michael Lage receiving home number 276 from the organization here in Texas.

Homes are provided for the most severely injured Veterans who have come back from deployment since September 11, 2001. There are veterans who are severely burned, missing one more limbs who need homes that are accessible to them.

When you see a Veteran with a prosthetic leg going about daily life with relative ease it is easy to think their life is almost normal. What most don’t realize is many times the prosthetics are uncomfortable. At home they will take off the prosthetic and use a wheelchair. Most homes and apartments are hard to maneuver about in wheelchairs. Things we take for granted like opening doors, those without hands have a difficult time, getting into kitchen cabinets or up to the kitchen sink.

The obstacles faced by injured Veterans in their homes are, in many cases, are more than we can imagine. Over 40 special adaptations are available in each home. The doors and halls are all wide enough for easy wheelchair access. Features such as roll under sinks and stove tops, shelving that can be pulled down, automatic opening doors, and temperature-controlled showers with 360-degree turnaround are options that can be built into the homes. Concrete walks completely surround the homes for outside accessibility and convenience.

“We have a higher population of HFOT Veterans in Texas because of the excellent VA system here, and steady climate.” Renee Gugliotta, HGFOT deputy director of marketing said.

Currently, there are 82 construction projects underway, with over 100 Veterans in the application process. The VA estimates there are still nearly one thousand severely injured Veterans who are eligible.

However, there is no state or federal funding for this organization. Seventy percent of their monies comes from fundraisers as small as a local back sale sending a check for $150.00 to 6 figure donations from things such as the HEB Tournament of Champions.

The other thirty percent of HFOT funding comes from company donations of materials. Companies like Armstrong who provides the flooring, Sherwin Williams provides the paint and the list goes on.

Ninety percent of every dollar spent goes directly to program services.

The homes and the land they set on are given to the recipients free. In some states such as Texas and Louisiana Veterans do not pay taxes on the property. Some homes are unfurnished allowing the Veteran to bring their own furniture, while others, like the Lage’s home are completely furnished.

“At homes for our troops we recognize the sacrifices made by our men and women in our armed forces which is why we see our work as a moral obligation, not just a job.” Said HFOT Community Outreach Coordinator Shaquanta “Q” Bailey.

HFOT is about more than building homes. Its mission includes work to rebuild Veterans’ lives.

The houses are making a difference in the lives of these Veterans. Before receiving a home, only 12 percent of the recipients have a degree or are pursuing one. After moving into a home that meets their needs 69 percent are pursuing degrees. For spouses and caregivers, the numbers are eight percent with degrees or pursuing one, and after HFOT up to 90 percent have or are pursuing degrees.

In addition, the employment rate for veterans goes up 69 percent, while the spouse employment rate goes up over 300 percent.

The Lage home is the second built by HFOT in Mystic Shores.

Retired Brigadier General Tom Landwermeyer spoke at the presentation of the key ceremony to the Lages

“President Calvin Coolidge said, ‘A nation that forgets its defenders will soon be forgotten.’” He said.

He noted that less than one percent of the public serve in uniform. However, everyone enjoys the freedoms fought and won by the military.

“We need a strong military, and to do that we need to support our Veterans,” He said.

General Landwermeyer was in charge of the 3rd Infantry Division. Lage was part of the 164th Armor Third Infantry Division.

“In June 2007 Staff Sergeant Michael Lage had a choice. There was going to be a night raid – a night patrol which is most difficult. Michael volunteered to go on the patrol. In that patrol the vehicle was hit by an explosive device. Everybody in the vehicle was killed. Michael is the only one that survived because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was tossed from the vehicle. He is what America is all about. He is the reason we exist. He and men like him. He went through one hundred surgeries and a difficult healing process but was blessed when he met his beautiful wife, April.”

Sergeant Lage’s wife April, served as a military police officer, who was injured while training to be deployed.

“As she came to the podium, she carried a frame with photos of all the the men who were killed in Michael’s incident, so that their sacrifice is never forgotten.”

Michael Lage said, “The one thing I am really excited about this house is we are all used to adapting and adapting to the situation around us. With these homes we don’t have to adapt. They made the house to adapt to us. That is the biggest take away I am going to get from this. It is going to make my family’s life so much easier living in a house that adapted to us. Thank you for the opportunity to live in a great home.”

The basic criteria to qualify for a home are; injured in the theater of Iraq-Afghanistan war, post 911, retired or processing to retire from the military, a letter of eligibility from the VA Specially Adapted Housing program and pass a criminal background check. They must also be able to be responsible for the home to maintain it, property taxes if applicable, and home insurance.

HFOT will not solicit donations over the phone and keeps all donor contributions confidential. For more information on Homes For Our Troops or how to apply or donate see their web page www.hfotusa.org