Throughout the week leading up to Veterans Day, Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County focused on local veterans.
The organization held a Veteran Build Week of Service to do home ownership and home preservation projects for vets and their families.
ABC Action News Anchor Lauren St. Germain went out to one of the build sites in Plant City to meet with one of the several veterans benefiting from the week of service.
“We have the two bedrooms in the front. That’s where my boys are going to be,” said Gabriel Mineo.
Gabriel Mineo is a Navy veteran. He served in the Navy as a Cryptographic Technician (CTR3) and then got an honorable discharge.
Mineo is now working to create a better home for his family. He has a wife and two sons, who are both thrilled to soon have their own space. Future homeowners like Mineo invest in their homes through sweat equity hours.
“What have you done so far in terms of physical labor?” asked St. Germain.
“I worked on a house by Chamberlain, and then it's been this one over here—painting these houses over here,” said Mineo.
Tina Forcier is the CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County, and she spoke about why it is so important to help veterans,
“We want to serve those who served, and this week in particular, we are excited to show how a community can come together and do that with a different project each day. We have different volunteer groups each day, and we really want to highlight what they have done. It’s a huge sacrifice for our country,” said Forcier.
Habitat for Humanity leaders said the projects this week ranged from painting to roof repair. A lot of selfless volunteers make sure the work gets done.
Nitza Rivera is the vice president of the Veterans Build Program with Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County. Rivera said usually they have 10-12 volunteers working on each home at a time.
“As a veteran myself, it is an important continuation of my service in the military and now taking care of those who came before us. A lot of them didn’t have the programs that we have now for our younger veterans post 9/11, so we want to make sure we are extending our reach to those folks as well,” said Rivera.
Mineo and his family should be able to move into their new home in January. For more information on Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County, click here.
