A charity group began construction on a specially built home for a severely wounded Marine and his family in Virginia on Saturday.
Corporal Marcus Dandrea lost both of his legs during his second deployment to Afghanistan after he stepped on an improvised explosive device in February of 2011. He is currently receiving continuing treatment at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Dandrea and his wife, Victoria, have four children. They will all move into their new home in Haymarket, Va., once construction is completed.
"This means so much to me and my family," Dandrea said in a statement. "We will never have to worry about the financial burden of finding a home that meets my needs."
The home is being built by the charity group Homes for Our Troops. The organization's mission is to build "mortgage-free, specially adapted homes" across the country for veterans often with "multiple amputations, varying levels of paralysis, blindness and traumatic brain injury." They have built 185 homes for severely injured veterans.
Homes for Our Troops is a private charity, with 70 percent of its funding coming from individual donors and community fundraisers. CNN's Jake Tapper became one of those donors after giving his winnings from the CNN Quiz Show to the charity. The anchor said he picked Homes for Our Troops "because you can see the direct impact of its contributions."
"I first learned about Homes for Our Troops after Pres. Obama invited Staff Sgt. Jason Gibson to the State of the Union address in January," Tapper, who spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, told the Washington Free Beacon. "I got a chance to meet the inspiring Gibson for a profile for my show and heard all about the amazing work Homes for Our Troops did building him and his growing family a new house. When I told Alisyn [Camerota] about the group as a possible recipient of any quiz show winnings she agreed it was an amazing organization doing real work on the ground for society's most deserving."
"I’m in awe of his selflessness and his courage," Tapper said of Dandrea.
The home will be paid for in part by the Specially Adapted Housing grant from the Veterans Administration. However, the rest of the tab will be picked up by Homes for Our Troops. "The grant is only $70,465 and the average cost to build a specially adapted home is $422,000," said Teresa Franco Verity, a Homes for Our Troops spokesperson. "So, the grant covers a portion of it."
The home is specially customized to meet the needs of Dandrea.
"Our homes have over 40 major adaptations to provide the veteran with full access to all living spaces," Verity said.
Verity estimates the Dandrea's new home should be ready to move in after six or seven months.
"It will make our life a lot better and I cannot thank Homes for Our Troops enough for giving us this opportunity," Dandrea said.
