Volunteers fix home for National Guard family
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EUGENE, Ore. - Volunteers gathered bright and early Saturday morning to rake leaves, chop trees and tidy up an abandoned home on Garfield Street.
It's a labor of love, and it's all for National Guard veterans.
"The opportunity here is to create housing for veteran families," said Terry McDonald, director of St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County, "especially National Guard families returning from current deployment that will be affordable housing with good community support so they can re-integrate into the community."
The house on Garfield Street was abandoned for 10 years until St. Vincent de Paul bought the property. Soon, it will be in use once again.
"I'm a veteran myself, and so part of it is just really digging in and giving people an opportunity," said Jon Ruiz, city manager of Eugene.
The project is a joint effort between St. Vincent de Paul, the City of Eugene, Eugene Water and Electric Board, Rotary Club and several other community organizations.
When they come back from overseas, it's often times hard for them to go back to regular life.
"What you end up with is a situation where those families are at very great risk of not being financially viable and never having a chance to integrate into the community again," according to McDonald.
Perhaps this house will be a difference for one local family. The veteran has not been chosen yet, but St. Vincent dePaul and a panel of veterans will choose someone in the next few months.
There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony on Veteran's Day on Nov. 11.
There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony on Veteran's Day on Nov. 11.
