Air Force veteran, family displaced by Hurricane Ian get new mortgage-free home in Venice community
Veteran returns to new home after storm damage
American flags and smiling faces lined a neighborhood in Wellen Park on Friday morning. There were plenty of cheers as they welcomed home Retired Technical Sergeant Daniel Beesting and his family.?Kimberly Kuizon reports.
VENICE, Fla. - American flags and smiling faces lined a neighborhood in Wellen Park on Friday morning. There were plenty of cheers as they welcomed home Retired Technical Sergeant Daniel Beesting and his family.
Beesting had already given so much to our country with his service, but then Hurricane Ian took even more.
READ: Marine veteran who suffered near-fatal injury in Iraq gets surprise gift: 'Those are happy tears'
"It's so nice to be back in a place that I can put holes in the wall. I am so excited, because it’s been a nightmare. Two days will be three years. I am so happy to have that be over," said Beesting.
The backstory:
Beesting served nearly 10 years in the United States Air Force after joining right after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. After putting it all on the line for our country, Beesting was medically retired and remains 100% disabled.
As he returned to civilian life, in September 2022, Hurricane Ian changed everything.
MORE: 'It's a lifeline': Steps to Recovery program in Pasco County helps veterans after service
"We were living in our house there in Rotonda. Trying to live our lives and then that storm came and ruined every bit of them. We have just been trying to hang on for three years and get through this," he told FOX 13.
Their home was destroyed. As his family lived in an RV on their property, PulteGroup's Built to Honor program, along with Building Homes for Heroes, learned of what they went through.
The two groups went to work, building the Beesting family a new mortgage-free home.
"It’s about being a part of something bigger than themselves; it’s about knowing they are giving back to those who have given so much for our freedom, sacrificed so much," said Josh Graeve, the division president of Southwest Florida PulteGroup.
Big picture view:
It's a new start for a family that has sacrificed so much.
"I get a safe place to get back on my track healing. It’s pretty difficult to try and do any of that stuff when you are living in a motor home in a driveway. Trying to figure out where you can live. Now we know. We get to be part of the community and be part of that journey," said Beesting.
In a community that honors those who sacrifice and serve our country.
"Thank you. There's no words, I can’t think of anything that would convey the thanks that we feel," he said.
The Source: Information was gathered by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon through Homes for Heroes and PulteGroup's Built to Honor Program.