PLANT CITY, Fla. — With Memorial Day coming up, many in the Tampa Bay area are celebrating those who served. On Thursday, one decorated veteran, in particular, received a free, brand-new house in Plant City.
Friends, family, and supporters line the street waiting for a deserving veteran to be escorted into his new Plant City community. With American flags in hand, the crowd heads to the tent where a special ceremony will take place for Army Special Operations veteran Jose Santiago.
Chief Warrant Officer Santiago enlisted in the Army in 1993, serving nearly 30 years.
“It is a total humbling experience. Honored that all these blessings are being bestowed upon my family,” said Jose Santiago.
Jose cares for his two children, mother and sister, who have an intellectual disability, and their new, mortgage-free home was made possible through a collaboration between Building Homes for Heroes and PulteGroup’s Built to Honor Program.
“We have well over 5,000 veterans in our pipeline ready and willing to get a home. We just don’t have enough homes to give them,” said John Madison. This year, they’ve already gifted 400 homes to veterans across the nation.
Santiago has been injured several times over his entire military career. However, one of those injuries isn’t visible: PTSD.
“A lot of veteran communities struggle with that, right, and it’s all mental health. Even their own perspectives on downplaying their own service and also traumatic things that you actually go through,” said Santiago.
After a quick speech, the crowd heads down to the new home for the big reveal and ribbon cutting.
“Corta, corta, cortalo,” yelled someone in the crowd, telling Santiago in Spanish to cut the red ribbon in front of his new house. And just like that, Santiago has a beautiful place his family can take pride in just in time for Memorial Day Weekend. “This is an incredible blessing,” said Santiago.
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