Disabled veteran, family receive new home

Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, January 9, 2018

By Eve Guevara
eve.guevara@gaflnews.com

: Sergeant Chad Turner and family arriving at the home.

TIFTON — After 13 months, Sergeant Chad Turner, wife Jennifer, son Jason and service dog Buddy are finally home.

Thanks to Operation Finally Home, the Turners now have a custom home that will meet the family’s needs.

Turner said that this home is a blessing for his family.

“When we were standing here 13 months ago… I didn’t think it was real,” he said. “I thought it was a dream. Here we are 13 months later and there’s a house here. My wife’s pinched me 15, 20 times and I still don’t think it’s real.

“I cannot thank everybody enough,” he said.

Turner, who served two back to back tours of Iraq and then two back to back tours in Afghanistan, was wounded on his final tour and is dealing with PTSD and brain injuries, along with other injuries.

The Turners are the latest to receive a custom built home thanks to Operation Finally Home, a national nonprofit that provides mortgage free homes to wounded veterans across the country, and has built more than 200 homes in 34 states.

The family cut the ribbon on their completed home Jan. 5, and toured the home, seeing it for the first time.

Originally from Gainesville, the Turners said they are looking forward to moving to South Georgia.

“This means more to me than y’all think. We’ve been renters for 14 years,” he said, adding that having their own home will allow them to save up money and be able to provide for son Jason.

OFH partnered with Structures by Chris Brooks to build the custom home for the Turners.

The groundbreaking was in December of 2016. In June on 2017 the community was invited to write notes of welcome, encouragement and thanks on the studs of the house after the framing was complete.

Turner said that when they applied for OFH there was a list of options for where homes could be built, and the only place in Georgia was in Tift County.

Rusty Carroll, executive director of OFH, said that building the home was “a service of love and sacrifice, commitment and bringing your’s and God’s talents together to bring this home to Chad and Jennifer.”

Follow Eve Guevara on Twitter @EveGuevaraTTG.

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