Around 50 community members lined the Canvas Church parking lot on Saturday, waving American flags and cheering U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Carlos Rivera and his family for their new Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) home set to be built in Alachua.
With a mission of “building homes, rebuilding lives,” HFOT is a nationwide nonprofit that builds and donates specially-adapted custom homes for severely injured post-9/11 veterans. The group currently has 80 homes under construction, with 13 in Florida.
The Riveras submitted an HFOT application in 2019 and will be moving from Tennessee to their new home this summer.
Retired Brig. Gen. and HFOT President and CEO Tom Landwermeyer said the organization doesn’t see what they do as a charity, but rather as a moral obligation to repay a very small portion of the debt that will never be completely repaid to the veterans and their families.
“They all voluntarily served, went down range with their units and in the blink of an eye, their lives and their family’s lives changed forever,” said Landwermeyer. “These injuries are not going to be fixed by our home…but it is our country’s responsibility to take care of them.”
After coming to the U.S. from Puerto Rico and marrying his high school sweetheart, Rivera joined the Army in 1992 to pursue a career in aviation. He deployed first to Kuwait in 2001 and then Iraq in 2003.
While serving as the noncommissioned officer in charge of Company A, 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) in Iraq, Rivera’s life changed forever on June 3, 2003.
After numerous intense helicopter landings, Rivera was left with pain in his right leg and back. Doctors diagnosed him with a severe, incomplete spinal cord injury after finding pieces of his spine missing between the T5 and T12 vertebrae. Rivera’s condition progressed into seizures and eventually paralysis, which has left him wheelchair bound.
Struggling to easily access things around the home, like the bathroom and going through doorways, Rivera and his wife applied to HFOT after hearing about it from another veteran who benefited from the program.
After getting approved, the Riveras chose the “American Dream” single-level home build design, which includes roll-under accommodations for bathroom vanities and the kitchen sink, lower cabinets and kitchen countertops, widened hallways and even a storm shelter.
Rivera said he’s most looking forward to him and his family, including their dog Chiquita, having the freedom to move freely around their home and live a normal life, even with his injuries.
“When I’m in a wheelchair, I want to be a normal guy and try to do the normal things that I used to do,” Rivera said. “This accessible house is going to start helping rebuild my life.
Jacksonville-based and veteran-run Elizabeth Evans Custom Homes is spearheading the build, and expects to have a volunteer day in June where community members can help landscape the property, followed by a key ceremony when the Riveras will move in.
“It’s like I’m still serving,” said builder and veteran Elizabeth Evans. “A lot of my employees are military as well, so it’s just really fulfilling. We love it.”
At Saturday’s celebration, the Community Guard Riders of Florida and personnel from the Alachua County Fire Rescue and the Alachua Police Department led Rivera’s escort to the church. The University of Florida’s Army ROTC then presented the colors before the national anthem and county and state representatives welcomed the family to the city.
Alachua County Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler detailed the county’s history and her own personal experience of housing military personnel over the years and presented Rivera with a local watermelon festival t-shirt.
“You represent a community and a tradition that I am very familiar with [and] you picked a really good spot to come because we’re the fun place,” Wheeler said. “Welcome to the community on behalf of the Alachua County Commission.”
