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Missouri Credit Unions to Build Second
Specially Adapted Home

Thanks to months of credit union fundraising, a second Missouri native will receive a specially adapted home built by Homes for Our Troops (HFOT). Marine Corporal Justin McLoud became a triple amputee last December when an IED went off during his third deployment in Afghanistan. McLoud is currently living in San Diego with his wife, Amber, and young son, Desmond, while he continues rehabilitation.

Watch his HFOT video here.

Missouri credit unions have raised $100,000 to fund McLoud's home. HFOT is a non-profit organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely injured military members returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq. Missouri credit unions are committed to providing severely injured service members with homes that yield the maximum freedom of movement and facilitate independent living. 

Missouri Credit Unions Build First HFOT Home for
Staff Sergeant Robert Canine

SSG Canine stands with his family in their new specially adapted kitchen.

Missouri credit unions demonstrated the credit union difference when they raised $100,000 and built a specially adapted home for Staff Sergeant (SSG) Robert Canine. This is the first Homes for Our Troops house built in Missouri.  SSG Canine lost both legs below the knee when his Humvee was bombed in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 17, 2009. After a year of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, SSG Canine, his wife, Jennifer, and their nine-year-old son, Sebastian, will move into their new home in Columbia, Missouri. Credit unions participated in the project by raising funds, soliciting labor and materials, helping build during volunteer days and landscaping the property.

The specially adapted home has a barrier-free layout so SSG Canine can move independently whether he's on prosthetics or in a wheelchair. The appliances are front-loading and the bathrooms have roll-under vanities to accommodate a wheelchair. Best of all, SSG Canine can access his son's room (their previous living conditions had stairs) and read to him at night. 

“When this [injury] happened, the biggest thing I was worried about was coming home and taking care of my family,” said Canine. “Homes for Our Troops and the Missouri Credit Union Association took care of that for me, and for that I am eternally grateful to them. Because of everyone’s hard work, I was able to focus on my recovery at Walter Reed and plan for the future.”

 For an archive of Homes for Our Troops stories in Missouri Courier magazine, click here.

Click Here for Key Ceremony photos! Click Here for Landcaping photos! Click Here  for Build Brigade photos!

Resources
Homes for Our Troops 
HFOT page featuring SSG Canine 
HFOT Fundraising Ideas