Every day on HuffPost, we're highlighting one 'Greatest Person'- an exceptional individual who is confronting the country's economic and political crises with creativity, generosity, and passion. Today we're featuring Dan Wallrath, a homebuilder in Texas who started building homes for veterans in need after he retired. Through the Bay Area Builders Association and Operation Finally Home, Dan has already built twelve homes for vets, with ten more on the way--all for free.
HP: Describe for us how you first started to build homes for needy veterans.
DW: Five years ago a friend of mine knew some people in our community who had a son who just returned from Iraq. He was back after sustaining severe head injuries from a roadside bomb. They needed their house remodeled, to accommodate the needs of their son when he came home. I'd built custom homes for over thirty years, although I had no experience with home remodeling. But I had to help the family. I decided to visit with them and see what I could do. When I arrived, the father told me what happened to his son. He showed me pictures of his son, Steven, before his injuries and after. This just broke my heart. It was like a bolt of lightning struck me, and I realized that this must be happening all over the country to families. Lives turned upside down, families facing such incredible obstacles.
He told me the Department of Veterans Affairs only gave him $5500 to remodel his home. This money was to make his home handicap-accessible for Steven in a wheelchair. I told him to keep his money. Steven's mother was a schoolteacher, but was going to have to quit her job to become Steven's full-time caregiver. This was going to cut their income in half. I told him I knew some great guys who would help me get this done. I was President of the Bay Area Builders Association at the time, and I met with our group to discuss what we could do. We all pitched in with our contacts and totally remodeled the home. This went over so well that I told my group we should build a home for a family the next year. We did, and the rest is history.
HP: How did that turn into "Operation Finally Home"?
DW: The Bay Area Builders Association is a division of the Greater Houston Builders Association. After a year we decided that this was something we could do seriously, so we established a 501 3c. This was originally named the BABA Support our Troops. When we took our program nationally, we decided to call it "Operation Finally Home."
HP: What are the qualifications that veterans need to have to qualify for your program? What are they expected to contribute?
DW: We do not take applications for our homes. We seek out families that need our help. These heroes have been disappointed enough with the way they are treated by our government. We do not want to disappoint them anymore. We look for families who are trying to move forward in life in spite of their injuries. We give them a hand up, not a hand out. Once they receive their new home they become part of our family. They are invited to participate in functions, but not required.
HP: Who are your heroes? Who inspires you?
DW: My true heroes are all the men and women who place themselves in harm's way for us. These young men inspire me to do this. Just talking to them and seeing the attitudes they have inspires me. I ask them if they have any regrets, and they all tell me they feel guilty that they are not still with their unit and their buddies. When we present them with a new home, they all say they don't deserve it, that they know someone else whose injuries are far worse. This is when we know we have the right person.
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