Paying it forward: Gary Sinise Foundation donates smart home to Army veteran in Oconomowoc
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A national foundation supporting those who have fought for our country is making a difference in Waukesha County.
The Gary Sinise Foundation, created by actor and humanitarian Gary Sinise, provides special housing and other services for veterans.
The Foundation came to Oconomowoc Thursday with a gift to last a lifetime for a man who put his life on the line.
"We're here today to celebrate retired Army Captain Jason Church, to be able to give him a specially adapted, mortgage-free, smart home," said Gib Bosworth from the Gary Sinise Foundation.
The accessible smart home will be the 84th built by the foundation for a veteran.
"It is an opportunity for all of us to go, 'look, we're paying it forward,'" Bosworth said.
Jason Church was deployed in Afghanistan in 2012, when an explosive detonated near him, severing both his legs.
Since then, Church medically retired and received his law degree from UW-Madison.
A couple years ago, he received a phone call that changed his future.
"Gary called and said he'd be building us a house," Church said.
Church and his wife, Bella, worked with the Gary Sinise Foundation to design the house for his needs.
"Having every single door, or every single corridor of this house accessible with my wheelchair is really the important thing," Church said.
Along with wide, reachable areas, everything in the home can be controlled by installed iPads.
Church's favorite part - a completely accessible bathroom.
"If there's not a proper shower chair, if there's not a proper area to enter, it really does make it difficult," Church said. "This is going to allow me to have a lot more, honestly, safety."
The special homes are meant to carry veterans through the next chapter of their lives.
"This is something that hopefully he will be able to raise a family in with his wife, and be able to enjoy a very long life," Bosworth said.
"We can't wait to have just people coming over and actually just using this house," Bella said.
"It's overwhelming. It's a really humbling experience," Church said.
Click here to learn more about the Gary Sinise Foundation.