When Veteran’s return home it can be difficult for them to find work, proper health care, and even a place to live. But the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation and Bank of America are working to change that.
55-year old William Chasten, a retired US Army Sgt. 1st class has never owned a home, until now.
“Not knowing what they did, I was really excited coming in,” Chasten said. “I wish this thing has a faster speed.”
Chasten is a US Veteran deemed 100 percent disabled by the US Department of Veteran Affairs. He always dreamed of owning his own home, but didn’t think his dream would come true. Until he heard about a program with the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation and Bank of America that provides new homes to disabled veterans free of charge. Chasten applied and was accepted.
“I was ready to do somersaults, but I couldn’t,” Chasten said.
Kristi Marcum, a Senior Financial advisor for Bank of America says it is an honor to help those who have done so much for their country.
“We have a huge Military presence here in the El Paso area, in the Southern New Mexico Area,” Marcum said. “And to give back to those who have given so much to us is incredibly important.”
David Long, President of the Texas State Affordable Housing Committee says families always seem to do much better when they are in a home situation.
“Giving a Veteran the opportunity to have that is just a sheer honor and a privilege that we are able to give back to that have served so much for us,” Long said. “But the home is pretty much the center of everything that goes on in a life.”
Chasten’s step-daughter Mary Ramirez says her step-father has been through a lot since being honorably discharged from the army in 1998.
“I know that he has fallen quite a few times, when he was living with my grandmother,” Ramirez said. “Off and on he has had health issues. He’s struggled a lot health wise. He’s had 4 strokes that have impaired both sides of him. He’s gotten a little stronger, and he still does his workouts. But he has been through a lot and he is someone who really truly deserves to have something like this happen to him. He is going to be a lot better independently situated this way and it is going to make things a lot easier for him.”
During Chasten’s nearly 20 years of military service he received 7 medals for his service achievements, but he never had a home to call his own.
“For him to be able to come home and have something stable like this is probably the utmost,” Ramirez said. “Because when your bouncing from place to place and place to place it’s hard, even with his children. You bounce back and forth from one house to the other you know that you are never going to be fully set there. Here, he knows he is going to be permanently set. His roots are going to maintain in El Paso where he wanted to be.”
Ramirez says this home has given him a new sense of pride.
“Not just pride,” Ramirez said. “But reassurance that he is going to be able to be in something, it’s not going to be taken away from him. He is always going to have it around, and he is going to be able to fully live an independent life with him and his wife. He is going to be able to do everything, and move around independently without having somebody to be there for him.”
Chasten was not allowed to see the newly remodeled house before move-in day and the family has been anxious.
“The first time I got to see it was actually on his computer,” Ramirez said. “He had tons of pictures that they took for him. So, actually being able to see everything after they remodeled is wonderful, it’s so beautiful.
As for Chasten, He is full of gratitude for those who helped him achieve his dream of owning a home.
“I don’t remember a lot of the names. I know the facts, but thank you,” Chasten said. “This is the best thing that has ever happened to me besides my daughters.”
