Formerly Homeless Army Veteran Receives Donation Of A Lifetime
Dec 06, 2020 by apost team
In November, a formerly homeless US army veteran and father-of-five from Kentucky was surprised with getting his mortgage fully paid off by The Home Depot Foundation. The house had been falling apart but it was rebuilt by Kentucky Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that provides housing and services to all veterans and civilians.
32-year-old Anthony Burrow had a difficult childhood. Growing up, he moved a lot to get away from his abusive stepfather. Together with his mom and two sisters, the family lived in various apartments and women’s shelters in Evansville, Indiana, according to PEOPLE.
In November, Burrow and his wife Kara were invited to The Drew Barrymore Show to talk about their experience with Kentucky Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that provides housing and services to all veterans and civilians. The couple had been struggling with finding new housing for their family of n, and when they finally found one, it was falling apart.
“As we were looking for a larger house, because of having kids and such, we realized there weren’t many available and our price range wasn’t super high,” said Burrow to host Drew Barrymore. “So we had to find what we could get, it was a nice little fixer-upper home and found a nice small town that we liked that’s about an hour from our hometown.”
Explaining to Barrymore about how they discovered Kentucky Habitat for Humanity, Burrow’s wife shared that it was through faith.
“Our house was falling apart, the floors were caving in. I just felt like we weren’t providing a good home for our children so I started praying,” said the mom of five children ages three to 15.
The husband and wife revealed that their eight-year-old son, Noah, even had his foot stuck in a hole on the floor.
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“I actually went to our pastor and was like, ‘Hey, I don’t know what to do. We can’t get a house, we can’t stay in this house.’ And the same night that I talked to her, she said, ‘Well, Habitat’s accepting applications for two more days, maybe you should try it.”
Thankfully, the director of the habitat came out and told them that the organization was looking for veterans and that they would help them.
“Keith was great,” Burrow said of the director. “He was really pro-veteran and wanted to help work with us every step of the way.” Burrow served in the regular army for eight years followed by two years in the U.S. Army Reserve. During his 10 years, he spent one year deployed in Iraq.
Contractors knocked down the house in March to build a new five-bedroom, two-bathroom home for the Burrow family. By September, they moved in.
“We’re fully blessed, this is the best outcome I could imagine,” Burrow told PEOPLE. “My kids have a swing set, they have their own rooms, they’re not tripping in holes in the floor anymore.”
The couple told the talk show host that they have made two payments for the mortgage so far, and are slowly “chipping away at it.”
“I think the total is going to be like $130,000,” said the veteran. “But I mean for a brand new house, a five-bedroom for all our kids, that is amazing.”
“It sounds like you have a ways to go,” Barrymore said. The 45-year-old actress then took that opportunity to tell them the good news.
“You won’t have to worry about another mortgage payment,” she told them. “Because as part of its operation surprise campaign, The Home Depot Foundation is gonna pay off your mortgage in full.”
The announcement moved Kara to tears, and Burrow asked if she was kidding. “I was in shock,” Burrow said to the magazine. “Like, how much more blessed can you get?”
According to their website, The Home Depot Foundation is dedicated to improving the homes and lives of US veterans. To date, the organization has invested more than $350 million in support of veterans in need.
As someone who does not have a proper childhood home to be able to go back to, this meant a great deal to Burrow. He and his family now look forward to spending the holidays in their brand new home. He also hopes that the memories they create in the house will one day be revisited by his children with their own families in the future.
“I could live anywhere, even a cardboard box,” Burrow said. “But to have a safe, comfortable house for my kids and wife means everything to me.”
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