Rebuilding Together and Countrywide Volunteers Provide Home Improvements for Injured Soldier
Article type: Press Release
El Paso, TX – Nov. 17, 2007 -- Rebuilding Together®, the nation’s largest volunteer home rehabilitation organization, is providing modifications and repairs at the home of Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran Adrian Garcia through its Serving Those Who Servesm program, today. Countrywide® Financial Corporation has contributed more than $1.2 million as the founding sponsor of a nationwide program that provides free home modifications to severely-injured soldiers and veterans returning from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“I’m very excited and very grateful that Rebuilding Together and Countrywide are doing this for my son” stated Lourdes Garcia, Pfc. Garcia’s mother. “Without the Serving Those Who Serve program, my son wouldn’t be able to live comfortably. I don’t have the resources to do what they have done for me. I don’t have the words to describe how happy I am.”
Volunteers from Countrywide, Fort Bliss, the Boy Scouts and Rebuilding Together El Paso are joining with local contractors and vendors to assist Pfc. Adrian Garcia and his family.
“Rebuilding Together is proud to be working with our El Paso affiliate to assist Pfc. Garcia,” said Gary Officer, president and CEO of Rebuilding Together. “Veterans and soldiers like Pfc. Garcia have sacrificed so much for our country, and with this generous grant from Countrywide Financial Corporation, we are making this house and many more homes safe and accessible for soldiers injured during service abroad.”
Pfc. Garcia entered the Army after graduating from Ysleta High School in 2006 and was assigned to the 1-9 Battalion, Second Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, CO. In 2007, Pfc. Garcia was stationed in Ramadi where he served as a machine gunner. After three weeks in Iraq, Pvt. Garcia’s hummer was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade critically injuring him. The 6-foot-4 former high school basketball player had to have both legs amputated above the knee.
Pfc. Garcia is now going through extensive rehabilitation and recovery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX. Since returning from Iraq, he has used a wheelchair, but is hopeful that with additional rehab he will be able to use prosthetic legs.
”In the debate over ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, we must not forget the individual American heroes who are serving our nation, and particularly those, like Pfc. Garcia, who have come home with life-changing injuries,” said Robert Power, executive vice president of public affairs for Countrywide. “Through private contributions to Rebuilding Together, from Countrywide and others, Serving Those Who Servesm honors our forces and lets them know the nation will not forget their sacrifice.”
The small three bedroom adobe style home is currently not accessible to Pfc. Garcia. The Serving Those Who Servesm program will make his family’s home safe and accessible by creating a new wheelchair accessible bedroom and bathroom along with other modifications.
The November 17rd ceremony will feature presentations from Rick Simon, First Vice President of Corporate Communications, Countrywide Financial Corporation; T.J. Cantwell, Director of Veterans Housing, Rebuilding Together; Eliot Shapleigh, Texas State Senator; John Cook, Mayor of El Paso; and Homeowners, Adrian Garcia and his family.
Serving Those Who Servesm projects have been completed for more than 20 families across the country. For further information about applying to the Serving Those Who Servesm program or to make a contribution, go to www.ServingThoseWhoServe.org.
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About Countrywide
In 2007, Countrywide Financial Corporate is celebrating its tenth anniversary as a national sponsor of Rebuilding Together. Countrywide is a member of the S&P 500, Forbes Global 2000 and Fortune 500. Through its family of companies, Countrywide provides mortgage-centric financial services. Mortgage banking businesses include loan production and loan servicing principally through Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., which originates, purchases, securitizes, sells, and services prime and nonprime loans; and loan closing services provided by the LandSafe group of companies. Diversified financial services encompass banking, capital markets and insurance, largely through the activities of Countrywide Bank, N.A., a bank offering depository and home loan products; Countrywide Capital Markets, a mortgage-related investment banker; Balboa Life and Casualty Group, whose companies are national providers of property, life and casualty insurance; and Balboa Reinsurance, a captive mortgage reinsurance company. The company is headquartered in Calabasas, California. For more information, visit Countrywide's website at www.countrywide.com.
About Rebuilding Together
Rebuilding Together is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization working to preserve homeownership and neighborhoods by providing rehabilitation services free of charge to those in need. Through the support of corporate sponsors, local businesses, and the hands-on work of a quarter-million volunteers, Rebuilding Together rehabs and repairs more than 9000 homes each year. The market value of this work is in excess of $100 million annually. In addition to its core home repair work, Rebuilding Together rehabs community centers and conducts home modification and repair programs that focus on elder home safety, energy efficiency, veterans housing, and disaster recovery and reconstruction. Rebuilding Together has grown to 225 affiliates nationwide since its founding in 1988, and is now preserving safe and healthy homes in 1800 communities nationwide. Rebuilding Together celebrated the rehabilitation of its 100,000th home in 2006. For details, see www.rebuildingtogether.org or call 1-800-REHAB-9.
About Serving Those Who SERVE
Rebuilding Together’s Serving Those Who Servesm was developed to meet the needs of injured soldiers and veterans returning from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. We focus on providing home modifications and repairs to help ease the transition of the veteran or soldier back into their home after a life altering injury. The projects focus on the rehabilitation of their homes to help make them safer, more comfortable and to improve the quality of life for the veteran or soldier by helping them live with greater independence and improved mobility. The projects will not only modify the home; we believe it will help the individual, the family, and the community to heal. Serving Those Who SERVE focuses on helping veterans who suffer from one or any combination of four injuries including loss of sight, loss of hearing, mobility impairments, and traumatic brain injury.
Initiatives: Veterans Housing, Serving Those Who Serve