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Highlands Today

Heroes At Home: Program Makes Improvements To Veteran's House

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Veteran Norman Kelley watches as Heroes at Home project volunteers repair Kelley's home Tuesday in Sebring.

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By Dan  Fearson | Highlands Today

Published: February 21, 2008

SEBRING — For five years, Norman Kelley served in the U.S. Army, receiving numerous awards for his efforts in rebuilding the military branch that was decimated during the Vietnam War.

Now, nearly 25 years later, volunteers from across the country are helping Kelley rebuild his home.

Kelley, who lives at 1292 Lakeview Dr., in Sebring, was selected to have repair work done to his home through the Heroes at Home program, a joint effort between Rebuilding Together Highlands County, Inc., and Sears.

"My phone rang one morning and someone told be that I had been selected (to receive repair work)," said Kelley. "I told my wife and she jumped up in the air and grabbed my daughter and swung her around."

Norman and his wife, Helen, have three children at home, and said that his family has fallen onto hard times recently.

Norman, who suffers from a disability and collects Social Security, has had multiple family medical issues while living on a fixed income, and his home has had to suffer the most.

"Bills just began to pick up for us, and we didn't have the means to do fix up our home," said Kelley.
The Kelleys have twin boys who were born premature and are disabled, requiring special care.

Sebring code enforcement officer Bobby Hicks, who was in the process of citing Norman for multiple violations at his home, brought Kelley's case to the attention of Rebuilding Together.

"Sometimes, people look at code enforcement officers as the bad guys," said Hicks. "When we run into a situation where someone is having problems with costs we try to assist them."

"We looked at the condition of his home and decided that there were probably a number of things that could be done to help him out," said Terrance O'Leary, communications director of Rebuilding Together Highlands County.

After Rebuilding Together looked into Kelley's situation, they decided that he was eligible to apply for a national Heroes at Home grant.

On Monday, construction began at the Kelley home.

O'Leary said that the construction will include a new front porch, four new doors and brand new windows and plumbing.

Paul Devlin, president of Rebuilding Together Highlands County, said that he expected to put nearly $20,000 worth of materials into the Kelley home.

"I'm really excited; it's like a dream come true," said Helen Kelley.

The money that is being used to repair the Kelley home through the Heroes at Home project came from Sears customers nationally, who made in-store donations during the holiday season totaling $4 million.

The actual work that was being done to the Kelley home is being performed by volunteers.
"Putting others above yourself is truly a spiritual experience," said Harry Huber, who came down with seven other volunteers from Indiana.

O'Leary said that he expects construction at the Kelley home to last two weeks.

"We're really looking forward to seeing what the home will look like once everything is done," said Norman.

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