US Army veteran receives mortgage free home in Richmond Hill
Homes provided as part of Building Homes for Heroes and Built to Honor programs
RICHMOND HILL, Ga. —
An Army veteran injured during his service to the country is rewarded with a brand new home in Richmond Hill.
It was a hero’s welcome for retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Steve Smith and his wife, Jenifer. The couple, who currently live in Florida, are receiving a brand-new, mortgage-free home in the Del Webb at Heartwood subdivision in Richmond Hill courtesy of Building Homes for Heroes and PulteGroup’s Built to Honor program.
“It’s like a dream come true, to be totally honest,” said Steve Smith. “I mean, not just financially, but just that I’ve had an impact on someone, that this is what occurred.”
That impact is Smith’s sacrifice to the country, suffering life-altering injuries in a parachute accident in 2003.
“We’re able to do that for a veteran, a deserving veteran or us military, and be able to give them a mortgage-free home,” said Matthew Raines, division president, PulteGroup Coastal Carolinas. “It just — it gives you a chill bonus every time we do it.”
But the Smiths got another major surprise: they found their new home had been fully furnished and their pantry and refrigerator fully stocked.
“It’s just surreal,” said Jenifer Smith, Steve Smith’s wife. “We had no idea what we would be walking into. We thought it would be an empty home. We’d have to do everything. And selling our home a few years ago because we had to. We really don’t have a lot. So this is such a blessing for us.”
But now they have a brand new place to call home that’s mortgage-free.
“It’s like a godsend,” said Steve Smith. “I mean, it’s like you literally go out, get a lottery card, and you’re like, ‘I won.’ You know, that’s what it feels like.”
Welcome home, Smith family, welcome home.
The Smiths hope to be completely moved into their new home by the middle of October.