HILLSIDE DISABLED VETERANS HOME PROJECT
News
IT'S COMPLETE
The tremendous efforts of all involved resulted in the completion of the Hillside Disabled Veterans Home Project in only 86 days from the commencement of construction. On Wednesday, June 29, 2011, Army SPC Sergio Lopez & his family were presented the keys to a brand new house in Hillside.
We would like to thank all involved; including the countless material & labor suppliers, over 330 onsite workers, and over 250 individual donors.
We wish the Lopez family many years of happiness & health in this new home!
The tremendous efforts of all involved resulted in the completion of the Hillside Disabled Veterans Home Project in only 86 days from the commencement of construction. On Wednesday, June 29, 2011, Army SPC Sergio Lopez & his family were presented the keys to a brand new house in Hillside.
We would like to thank all involved; including the countless material & labor suppliers, over 330 onsite workers, and over 250 individual donors.
We wish the Lopez family many years of happiness & health in this new home!
Photographs by Johnny Boston Sr.
Below are a few links to the TV coverage from the Home Dedication Ceremony:
CBS 2 Chicago
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/06/29/house-finished-for-family-of-disabled-veteran/
ABC 7
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8222245
NBC 5
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Wounded_Veteran_Receives_A_New_Home_Chicago-124741394.html
WGN TV
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-disabled-vet-and-family-receive-new-home-june29,0,190087.story
WBBM 780 AM
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/06/29/house-finished-for-family-of-disabled-veteran/
CBS 2 Chicago
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/06/29/house-finished-for-family-of-disabled-veteran/
ABC 7
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8222245
NBC 5
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Wounded_Veteran_Receives_A_New_Home_Chicago-124741394.html
WGN TV
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-disabled-vet-and-family-receive-new-home-june29,0,190087.story
WBBM 780 AM
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/06/29/house-finished-for-family-of-disabled-veteran/
WEDNESDAY JUNE 29, 2011 @ 10 AM - DEDICATION CEREMONY
Please join us to celebrate the dedication of the Hillside Disabled Veterans Home Project
to Army SPC Sergio Lopez and his Family
Feel free to visit the Construction Page of the project website to view the construction progress pictures.
| 6.29.2011_-_ceremony_invitation_-_hillside.pdf |
March 30, 2011 - Ground Breaking Ceremony
On March 30, 2011, a ground breaking ceremony was held at the vacant lot at 34 Oak Avenue to celebrate the commencement of construction on the new home. Special thanks to all invovled in attending & planning the ground breaking event. After the ground breaking cememony, the project team, contractors & material suppliers headed back to the Village of Hillside for a pre-construction meeting.
We'd like to recognize all the media involved in helping spread the word about this wonderful project: ABC 7 News, Chicago Tribue, Fox 32 News, NBC 5 News, WBBM 780 AM, WGN 9 News.
See the links below to some of the news stories and videos!
Fox Chicago News
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/sergio-lopez-hillside-builds-new-home-for-disabled-veteran-20110330#
ABC 7 News
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/mathie&id=8043848
NBC 5 News
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Injured-Vet-Gets-New-House-118935184.html
WGN TV Channel 9
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/4e0b5810-f149-4b0f-9668-da6a84109871/News/New-free-home-for-disabled-veteran
WBBM 780 AM
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/03/30/new-home-to-be-built-for-wounded-iraq-war-veteran/
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-lopez-disabled-vet-new-home-20110330,0,4751998.story
A support letter from Illinois Governor Pat Quinn! See PDF file below.
| 3.30.2011_-_letter_from_gov._pat_quinn.pdf |
GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY & PROJECT KICK-OFF MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011 @ 10 AM
34 OAK AVENUE - HILLSIDE, IL
Spring has arrived and the grass is starting to turn green. In addition to that good news we are ready to start the Home for the Disabled Veteran project in Hillside, IL. On Wednesday, March 30, 2011, we will be having the Ground Breaking Ceremony and Project Kick-Off event for the Lopez Residence. Please see the PDF program of events for time and location next week. We encourage you all to attend the Ground Breaking at 34 Oak Avenue in Hillside, IL, followed by the pre-con meeting which will be held at the Village Hall immediately following the on-site ground breaking event.
Our goal is to start this home as soon as possible and complete it by July 4th in celebration of the freedom we enjoy every day. With this aggressive schedule we will need everyone’s cooperation to pull it off and with the team that has come together to take on this project we know it can happen.
Attached you will find the program of events for the morning of Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Mayor Tamburino has volunteered to lead the charge with opening remarks and Mick Yauger from the Teamsters (he was the keynote speaker at our last fundraiser in November) has volunteered to participate as well
Our goal is to start this home as soon as possible and complete it by July 4th in celebration of the freedom we enjoy every day. With this aggressive schedule we will need everyone’s cooperation to pull it off and with the team that has come together to take on this project we know it can happen.
Attached you will find the program of events for the morning of Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Mayor Tamburino has volunteered to lead the charge with opening remarks and Mick Yauger from the Teamsters (he was the keynote speaker at our last fundraiser in November) has volunteered to participate as well
| 3.30.2011_-_ground_breaking_program.pdf |
Helmets to Hardhats Organization
Helmets to Hardhats is the fastest way for Military, Reservists, & Guardsmen to transition from active duty to a career in the construction industry. To learn more about this organization, please visit their website. www.helmetstohardhats.org
| helmets_to_hardhats_letter.pdf |
IBEW Local 15 Workers Donate Labor to Help Injured Iraq War Veteran
Some generous Local 15 members spent Saturday, September, 11, their day off, doing line work for no pay. These workers volunteered their labor to help relocate a ComEd utility pole at the lot for the proposed home. The utility pole conflicted with the location of the new driveway for the proposed home. Please see the image below and feel free to download the PDF below for the entire story.
IBEW Local 15 Workers relocating a ComEd utility pole at the proposed home location
on September 11, 2010
on September 11, 2010
| local_15_pole_relocation_story.pdf |
Hillside building a home for injured veteran
Developer donated land, village nonprofit to use donated funds, materials to construct house that is handicap-accessible
By Lauren R. Harrison
Tribune reporter
November 4, 2009
Sergio Lopez and his family
An attached garage.
It's the feature Sergio Lopez wants most in the donated home being built for him in Hillside, so he can help his wife bring in groceries or carry one of his sleeping daughters in from the car in the winter.
"It would make a big difference, because walking in the snow is a little bit complicated for me," said Lopez, 27, of Joliet. "People who have full use of their legs, you do a lot of balancing with your toes, your heel, your ankle -- and I don't have any of that."
Three years ago, a roadside bomb exploded under the Humvee Lopez was driving through southern Baghdad. His legs were destroyed and he now has two prostheses.
He was the kind of disabled veteran Hillside Mayor Joseph Tamburino had in mind when he set out to build a home on property donated by developer Plote Cos. As a Vietnam veteran, Tamburino said he feels a responsibility "to make sure that young people understand that freedom is not free. There's a price for it."
"When you start seeing these young people now ... and the injuries that they're coming home with, it drives you with a sense of doing more to help."
Hillside officials and Plote created a nonprofit organization that will provide the Lopez family not only with an attached garage, but a specially adapted house for free.
"Our goal is to turn the home over to the veteran and (it) be completely paid for," said John Flood, assistant village manager. "The veteran will have to pay his property taxes and all of his utilities; it's just that he'd own a home without owing a mortgage."
Plote donated a 6,500-square-foot lot to the village as "a way of giving back to the community in which we developed," said Adam Neisendorf, the company's development coordinator. The lot, on the southwest corner of Harrison Street and Oak Avenue, was left after the reconfiguration of plans for Hillside Town Center, a retail center that opened in March.
No tax dollars will be used to construct the home, and the village will rely on donations of money, building materials and labor to its nonprofit group, Hillside Disabled Veterans Home Project, Flood said.
A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at the home site.
Lopez said he can't believe his family -- including wife Maria, 25, and daughters Sofia, 3, and Sasha, 6 -- is to be presented keys to a new home, probably on Memorial Day.
"I don't know what I've done to deserve something like that," said Lopez, who still wears a buzz cut. "The service is 100 percent voluntary. Nobody made me go there. I didn't, you know, go above or beyond or anything. I just did what they told me to do."
Lopez talks matter-of-factly about Jan. 4, 2006 -- the day he was injured.
It was the middle of the night. Some soldiers in his company had apprehended insurgents and needed a translator to assist with their interrogation. Lopez was driving the translator.
"We were just traveling down the road and all of a sudden there was an explosion," he said. The explosion "pretty much went right up the foot pedals ... so it went right up my legs and it threw me out of the truck."
The force of the blast and his ejection from the vehicle caused "dozens" of leg fractures, Lopez said. His feet were "unrecognizable."
"There were parts of my feet that were turned into dust, almost," Lopez said. "It was like if you took a bunch of Cheerios and just crunched them and put them in a Ziploc bag. It was really that bad."
After the blast, Lopez faded in and out of consciousness. He knows most of the facts from that night only because they were written in a report. When he was awake again, he said, his first thought was to see if his "guys were OK."
Neither the three other soldiers nor the translator was injured.
"At least it was just me," he said, his voice trailing off.
Lopez was selected to receive the home after the village requested a list of disabled veterans who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan from the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. There were none who lived in Hillside, so the search was broadened. "Others were asked and chose not to move to Hillside because it took them away from their families and support network," Flood said.
But for Lopez, the move will put his family closer to his in-laws in Downers Grove and to the Hines VA Hospital, where he periodically gets new parts for his prosthetic limbs.
The family already owns a home in Joliet, which Lopez describes as a 1971 "fixer-upper." He was told he could keep it and rent it out until the housing market picks up.
"We didn't want to make a requirement to say it has to be a disabled veteran that has no home," Flood said. "We didn't want to make it difficult for him."
It's expected that the new house will be titled in Lopez's name with a covenant that it must be occupied for two years, Flood said. If he does not occupy it for the allotted time, ownership would revert to the nonprofit organization. Another veteran would be found.
Although Lopez describes himself as "pretty mobile" and said he uses his wheelchair on occasion, the house will be built to design standards required by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for specially adapted housing.
The standards call for handrails in showers and particular door widths for easier wheelchair use, among other things.
"He may not need it now, but he may need it down the road," Flood said. "Needs change."
Maria Lopez has seen firsthand how her husband's needs have changed -- from his 11-month rehabilitation stint at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to his hand-cycling in the Chicago Marathon this year.
What kept them going through it all?
"The main thing would be the love that we have," she said.
Click Here to View the Chicago Tribune Story Online
It's the feature Sergio Lopez wants most in the donated home being built for him in Hillside, so he can help his wife bring in groceries or carry one of his sleeping daughters in from the car in the winter.
"It would make a big difference, because walking in the snow is a little bit complicated for me," said Lopez, 27, of Joliet. "People who have full use of their legs, you do a lot of balancing with your toes, your heel, your ankle -- and I don't have any of that."
Three years ago, a roadside bomb exploded under the Humvee Lopez was driving through southern Baghdad. His legs were destroyed and he now has two prostheses.
He was the kind of disabled veteran Hillside Mayor Joseph Tamburino had in mind when he set out to build a home on property donated by developer Plote Cos. As a Vietnam veteran, Tamburino said he feels a responsibility "to make sure that young people understand that freedom is not free. There's a price for it."
"When you start seeing these young people now ... and the injuries that they're coming home with, it drives you with a sense of doing more to help."
Hillside officials and Plote created a nonprofit organization that will provide the Lopez family not only with an attached garage, but a specially adapted house for free.
"Our goal is to turn the home over to the veteran and (it) be completely paid for," said John Flood, assistant village manager. "The veteran will have to pay his property taxes and all of his utilities; it's just that he'd own a home without owing a mortgage."
Plote donated a 6,500-square-foot lot to the village as "a way of giving back to the community in which we developed," said Adam Neisendorf, the company's development coordinator. The lot, on the southwest corner of Harrison Street and Oak Avenue, was left after the reconfiguration of plans for Hillside Town Center, a retail center that opened in March.
No tax dollars will be used to construct the home, and the village will rely on donations of money, building materials and labor to its nonprofit group, Hillside Disabled Veterans Home Project, Flood said.
A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at the home site.
Lopez said he can't believe his family -- including wife Maria, 25, and daughters Sofia, 3, and Sasha, 6 -- is to be presented keys to a new home, probably on Memorial Day.
"I don't know what I've done to deserve something like that," said Lopez, who still wears a buzz cut. "The service is 100 percent voluntary. Nobody made me go there. I didn't, you know, go above or beyond or anything. I just did what they told me to do."
Lopez talks matter-of-factly about Jan. 4, 2006 -- the day he was injured.
It was the middle of the night. Some soldiers in his company had apprehended insurgents and needed a translator to assist with their interrogation. Lopez was driving the translator.
"We were just traveling down the road and all of a sudden there was an explosion," he said. The explosion "pretty much went right up the foot pedals ... so it went right up my legs and it threw me out of the truck."
The force of the blast and his ejection from the vehicle caused "dozens" of leg fractures, Lopez said. His feet were "unrecognizable."
"There were parts of my feet that were turned into dust, almost," Lopez said. "It was like if you took a bunch of Cheerios and just crunched them and put them in a Ziploc bag. It was really that bad."
After the blast, Lopez faded in and out of consciousness. He knows most of the facts from that night only because they were written in a report. When he was awake again, he said, his first thought was to see if his "guys were OK."
Neither the three other soldiers nor the translator was injured.
"At least it was just me," he said, his voice trailing off.
Lopez was selected to receive the home after the village requested a list of disabled veterans who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan from the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. There were none who lived in Hillside, so the search was broadened. "Others were asked and chose not to move to Hillside because it took them away from their families and support network," Flood said.
But for Lopez, the move will put his family closer to his in-laws in Downers Grove and to the Hines VA Hospital, where he periodically gets new parts for his prosthetic limbs.
The family already owns a home in Joliet, which Lopez describes as a 1971 "fixer-upper." He was told he could keep it and rent it out until the housing market picks up.
"We didn't want to make a requirement to say it has to be a disabled veteran that has no home," Flood said. "We didn't want to make it difficult for him."
It's expected that the new house will be titled in Lopez's name with a covenant that it must be occupied for two years, Flood said. If he does not occupy it for the allotted time, ownership would revert to the nonprofit organization. Another veteran would be found.
Although Lopez describes himself as "pretty mobile" and said he uses his wheelchair on occasion, the house will be built to design standards required by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for specially adapted housing.
The standards call for handrails in showers and particular door widths for easier wheelchair use, among other things.
"He may not need it now, but he may need it down the road," Flood said. "Needs change."
Maria Lopez has seen firsthand how her husband's needs have changed -- from his 11-month rehabilitation stint at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to his hand-cycling in the Chicago Marathon this year.
What kept them going through it all?
"The main thing would be the love that we have," she said.
Click Here to View the Chicago Tribune Story Online
Hillside Group to Build Home for Vet - Proviso Herald
The Lopez Family, Veterans and Supporters
By David Pollard
November 12, 2009
Sergio Lopez lost both his legs below the knee in January 2006 while serving in Iraq as an Army specialist. He was driving a military vehicle, part of a convoy, when a roadside bomb went off.
On Saturday the Army veteran was recognized for his service and sacrifice not only in word, but in deed.
A groundbreaking ceremony took place in Hillside Nov. 7 for the new home to be built -- from the ground up, free of charge -- for Lopez and his family.
"I found out through a group that helps out wounded veterans," said Lopez, 27, who currently lives in Joliet with his wife and two young daughters. "I was a little apprehensive to see what I was going to be involved in, but once we sat down with the people in Hillside ... we were real excited and really happy."
Lopez will also have the opportunity to sit down with the architect to see and make suggestions about how the house will be designed to accommodate his special needs.
He does have one major concern.
"I'd like to have a two-car attached garage (to the house)," he said. "That would be real nice just because of my personal situation, because of my prosthetics. When winter comes it's a whole different game for me."
The land the Lopez family will be living on is about 6,500 square feet and was left over from the construction of Hillside Town Center. The developer, Plote Companies of Elgin, donated the land near Oak Avenue and Harrison Street, to the village.
John Flood, economic development director for Hillside, consulted with the mayor about how to use the land.
According to Flood, the mayor replied, "Why don't we help a veteran?"
Flood established Hillside Disabled Veterans Home Project (HDVHP), a nonprofit organization to raise money for the construction of a handicapped accessible two-story home.
Along with monetary donations, Flood is seeking building material, home furnishings and trades people willing to volunteer their time to help build the home.
The goal is to have the home completed by Memorial Day, but Flood believes it may take a little longer than that.
Lopez has to live in the house at least two years. If he leaves before or after the allotted time he will not receive the deed to the property and the committee will look for another disabled veteran to occupy it.
Adam Neisendorf, development coordinator for Plote Companies, said they are excited about the project.
"We're just glad to be involved in this project and giving back to the Hillside community," he said. "It's a way to show our appreciation and do something positive in the community."
Donations are tax deductible. Checks or money orders can be made out to "HDVHP" and sent to the attention of: John Flood, Hillside Village Hall, 425 Hillside Ave., Hillside, Ill. 60162. Call Flood at (708) 202-4324.
November 12, 2009
Sergio Lopez lost both his legs below the knee in January 2006 while serving in Iraq as an Army specialist. He was driving a military vehicle, part of a convoy, when a roadside bomb went off.
On Saturday the Army veteran was recognized for his service and sacrifice not only in word, but in deed.
A groundbreaking ceremony took place in Hillside Nov. 7 for the new home to be built -- from the ground up, free of charge -- for Lopez and his family.
"I found out through a group that helps out wounded veterans," said Lopez, 27, who currently lives in Joliet with his wife and two young daughters. "I was a little apprehensive to see what I was going to be involved in, but once we sat down with the people in Hillside ... we were real excited and really happy."
Lopez will also have the opportunity to sit down with the architect to see and make suggestions about how the house will be designed to accommodate his special needs.
He does have one major concern.
"I'd like to have a two-car attached garage (to the house)," he said. "That would be real nice just because of my personal situation, because of my prosthetics. When winter comes it's a whole different game for me."
The land the Lopez family will be living on is about 6,500 square feet and was left over from the construction of Hillside Town Center. The developer, Plote Companies of Elgin, donated the land near Oak Avenue and Harrison Street, to the village.
John Flood, economic development director for Hillside, consulted with the mayor about how to use the land.
According to Flood, the mayor replied, "Why don't we help a veteran?"
Flood established Hillside Disabled Veterans Home Project (HDVHP), a nonprofit organization to raise money for the construction of a handicapped accessible two-story home.
Along with monetary donations, Flood is seeking building material, home furnishings and trades people willing to volunteer their time to help build the home.
The goal is to have the home completed by Memorial Day, but Flood believes it may take a little longer than that.
Lopez has to live in the house at least two years. If he leaves before or after the allotted time he will not receive the deed to the property and the committee will look for another disabled veteran to occupy it.
Adam Neisendorf, development coordinator for Plote Companies, said they are excited about the project.
"We're just glad to be involved in this project and giving back to the Hillside community," he said. "It's a way to show our appreciation and do something positive in the community."
Donations are tax deductible. Checks or money orders can be made out to "HDVHP" and sent to the attention of: John Flood, Hillside Village Hall, 425 Hillside Ave., Hillside, Ill. 60162. Call Flood at (708) 202-4324.
Village Welcomes Wounded Veteran to New Home
By Joe Sinopoli
Hillside Suburban Life
November 23, 2009
Hillside, IL - When Sergio Lopez of Joliet moves into his new Hillside home around Memorial Day next year, it will serve as proof that good people do good things for good people.
With legs shattered by a roadside bomb in Iraq three years ago, the 27-year-old veteran and his young family will be moving into a house that will be built with his needs in mind, compliments of a lot of people with a soft spot for a veteran in their hearts.
Earlier this month, about 50 people, many World War II veterans, gathered to break ground on a 6,500-square-foot lot on the southwest corner of Harrison Street and Oak Avenue.
The property was donated by Plote Construction, builders of the Hillside Town Center that opened in March. The house will be built through contributions to the Hillside Disabled Veterans Home Project, a nonprofit group established by the village, donated materials and sweat by volunteers who work in the trades.
The two-story, three bedroom home will include a handicapped accessible first floor and an attached 2.5 car garage. Appliances such as the furnace and water heater are located in a laundry room for easy access.
Plote Development Coordinator Adam Neisendorf said the property originally was part of the Town Center plan until the design was reconfigured.
“Once you explain the project, it’s amazing how many are willing to donate their time to this,” Neisendorf said. “I know everyone who is involved so far understand the significance. People in America still take some time out of their busy lives to give back to those who served in the armed forces.”
Hillside Village President Joseph Tamburino praised the Plote family for its contribution.
“They do what they say they are going to do and more,” Tamburino said. “In my 30 years in elected office, that says a lot when you talk about developers. When this idea came up never was there a question.”
Originally a disabled veteran from the village was sought, but there were none, Assistant Village Manager John Flood said. Working with the Department of Veterans Affairs, other candidates were sought but declined because relocating would take them far from their established lives. Then Lopez was found.
“To me it didn’t make a difference, let’s just help somebody who needs the help,” said Tamburino, who served as a U.S. Army sergeant in Vietnam in 1969-70. “When you think of this young man, 10 days into his second tour in Iraq, and he ends up in a situation where he has lost both of his legs, he’s given an awful lot.”
Lopez said his reaction to being selected as the homeowner was that of a man stunned.
“At first it was disbelief and shock to think that someone who doesn’t even know me would do something so big for us,” he said.
Lopez said he is looking forward to calling Hillside his home.
“We’ve been there a few times now, and everyone has been very nice to us,” he said. “It’s a really nice community.”
Meanwhile, Lopez is busy getting on with life. He is going to begin school to study automotive service. And then there is his wife, Maria, and two daughters, Sophia and Sasha, to keep him in a determined state of mind.
He said he was getting along just fine.
“Luckily I have a very large support group, a large family, both my wife and myself,” he said. “We’re surrounded by lots of positive people and that helps a lot.”
Click Here to View the Hillside Suburban Life Story Online
Hillside Suburban Life
November 23, 2009
Hillside, IL - When Sergio Lopez of Joliet moves into his new Hillside home around Memorial Day next year, it will serve as proof that good people do good things for good people.
With legs shattered by a roadside bomb in Iraq three years ago, the 27-year-old veteran and his young family will be moving into a house that will be built with his needs in mind, compliments of a lot of people with a soft spot for a veteran in their hearts.
Earlier this month, about 50 people, many World War II veterans, gathered to break ground on a 6,500-square-foot lot on the southwest corner of Harrison Street and Oak Avenue.
The property was donated by Plote Construction, builders of the Hillside Town Center that opened in March. The house will be built through contributions to the Hillside Disabled Veterans Home Project, a nonprofit group established by the village, donated materials and sweat by volunteers who work in the trades.
The two-story, three bedroom home will include a handicapped accessible first floor and an attached 2.5 car garage. Appliances such as the furnace and water heater are located in a laundry room for easy access.
Plote Development Coordinator Adam Neisendorf said the property originally was part of the Town Center plan until the design was reconfigured.
“Once you explain the project, it’s amazing how many are willing to donate their time to this,” Neisendorf said. “I know everyone who is involved so far understand the significance. People in America still take some time out of their busy lives to give back to those who served in the armed forces.”
Hillside Village President Joseph Tamburino praised the Plote family for its contribution.
“They do what they say they are going to do and more,” Tamburino said. “In my 30 years in elected office, that says a lot when you talk about developers. When this idea came up never was there a question.”
Originally a disabled veteran from the village was sought, but there were none, Assistant Village Manager John Flood said. Working with the Department of Veterans Affairs, other candidates were sought but declined because relocating would take them far from their established lives. Then Lopez was found.
“To me it didn’t make a difference, let’s just help somebody who needs the help,” said Tamburino, who served as a U.S. Army sergeant in Vietnam in 1969-70. “When you think of this young man, 10 days into his second tour in Iraq, and he ends up in a situation where he has lost both of his legs, he’s given an awful lot.”
Lopez said his reaction to being selected as the homeowner was that of a man stunned.
“At first it was disbelief and shock to think that someone who doesn’t even know me would do something so big for us,” he said.
Lopez said he is looking forward to calling Hillside his home.
“We’ve been there a few times now, and everyone has been very nice to us,” he said. “It’s a really nice community.”
Meanwhile, Lopez is busy getting on with life. He is going to begin school to study automotive service. And then there is his wife, Maria, and two daughters, Sophia and Sasha, to keep him in a determined state of mind.
He said he was getting along just fine.
“Luckily I have a very large support group, a large family, both my wife and myself,” he said. “We’re surrounded by lots of positive people and that helps a lot.”
Click Here to View the Hillside Suburban Life Story Online
