Habitat for Humanity 'raising the roof' for veteran and his brother

Habitat for Humanity Hillsborough County volunteers 'raised the roof' on a new home for US Air Force veteran Vincent Smith, and his brother. 

“My brother, Caleb, he’s 26 years old and he’s battling a rare cancer,” Smith explained. “He’s been dealing with it since he was 17. It’s called Von Hippel-Lindau or VHL for short.” 

Habitat Hillsborough started the first day of their eight-week home construction for Smith. Not only are they focusing on build projects for veterans in the area, they’re also having several local veterans groups volunteer throughout the building process.

“There’s many veteran groups that come out, Mission Continues is one that consistently comes and serves with us, and Wounded Warriors is another,” explained CEO Tina Swain. “So, we definitely see a lot of veterans on the site through our Veterans Initiative and we’re very thankful for their service. 

It takes a village and a lot of community support to coordinate and execute the affiliates larger projects, and Bank of America Tampa Bay Market has been there every step of the way.

“When you’re working with Habitat and to help people realize the dream of home ownership its always a good day,” said Bank of America President Bill Goede. “Between now and the end of the year, Bank of America will hire our 10,000th veteran into our company.” 

Completion of the home is projected for late December.