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BAE Systems President and CEO Walt Havenstein (holding check right) presents check to Operation Homefront COO Amy Palmer (center) and CEO Mark Smith (holding check left) at the Annual Meeting of the Association of the United States Army.
A place to call home
Silver Spring, Md. - For Army Sgt. Travis Wood and his family, July 15 marked a new beginning.
Wood, who was in rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Hospital since he was wounded in Afghanistan two years ago, was finally able to move into one of the new Operation Homefront apartments in Maryland.
“It’s a dream come true,” Wood said. “(At the apartment) you feel like you’re living your own life a little bit. I mean, I’ll still have to report to people and I’ll still have to keep tabs, but at least I can come home to this.”
For the past few months the Wood and his family have been living with other wounded patients and their families in one of the Walter Reed Fisher Houses.
“You’re so close to the hospital … but sharing the space, when you have a family, you have no personal time, no privacy,” he said. “This is an incredible opportunity to have more space, to be able to live your own life.”
The apartments are located in Silver Spring, Md., just a few miles away from Walter Reed. Operation Homefront, a Texas-based non-profit organization, used money from corporate sponsors to pay rent and furnish the apartments. Each apartment unit would typically cost around $1,800 a month, however, the occupying families pay no rent and are allowed to stay for as long as their treatment requires. Operation Homefront has provided 15 furnished apartments and may provide more in the future.
BAE Systems, Inc. made $111,000 in contributions to Operation Homefront this year to support programs such as the furnished apartments. “This is the best part of my job,” said Devora Griggs, manager public relations and protocol for BAE Systems, Inc. “Seeing the gratitude and joy on the faces of the people we’ve been able to help is extremely rewarding.”
Griggs and a number of her BAE Systems, Inc. colleagues were at the apartment when the Woods arrived to move in. Suzzie Finn, a BAE Systems executive assistant, went the extra mile when she heard that Madeline Wood, 3, wanted a Princess theme bedroom. Finn made sure Operation Homefront had all the makings of a Princess bedroom to surprise Madeline on move-in day. To say that Madeline was excited would be a huge understatement.
“The gift really was what they gave to us in their excitement and appreciation,” commented Finn. She went on to say that she believes Wood’s wife and Madeline also were true warriors, speaking of their journey with Wood during his deployment and subsequent injury.
The apartment complex, also home to a number of Walter Reed physicians and staffers, has a community pool, a handicapped-accessible gym, and shuttle service to and from the hospital. New computers and basic household goods were also supplied to each apartment.
While the free apartment is a welcome gift for the family, Wood has had to endure 79 surgeries to repair broken bones and muscle damage and may need to stay at the apartment for two years.
Some excerpts taken from Stars and Stripes, July 17, 2008 edition and from Medill Reports, July 30, 2008 edition.
