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MEDIA ADVISORY
CONTACT: Meredith Leyva
(757) 410-4926 or meredith@operationhomefront.net
Wounded Warrior Austin Johnson to Cut Ribbon on New Home
After Johnson’s children were tragically killed on route to hospital, PGA and other donors help Operation Homefront to Call for Homebuilders, Lenders to Sell Excess Housing to 100,000+ Wounded Warriors
Operation Homefront will host the celebratory opening the new home of Army Specialist Austin Johnson, the soldier recovering from his fifth IED explosion when his children were killed in a car accident en route to the hospital. Donors organized by the PGA TOUR who raised $79,000 to assist the Johnsons, will also participate.
Operation Homefront also will call on mortgage lenders and homebuilders to sell entire neighborhoods of excess housing to wounded warriors as they return home. Operation Homefront will cite USAA and KB Homes, who assisted the Johnson family, as examples. There are currently more homeless Vietnam veterans than there were service members killed in that war, and recent studies show that 1 in 4 homeless are veterans. Operation Homefront is concerned that a combination of health problems and the 18-month bureaucratic outprocessing for wounded are driving current warriors into bankruptcy and ultimately homelessness. More than 30,000 troops have been wounded in six years of war, and as many as 100,000 may have PTSD. All of them will need housing in affordable suburban communities near VA medical facilities – something Operation Homefront hopes that lender and homebuilders will support.
Operation Homefront first met Army Specialist Austin Johnson and his wife, Lisa, while he was recovering from a traumatic brain injury at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio as a result of an IED explosion – his fifth IED explosion after two tours in Iraq. The military charity was providing emergency financial assistance after deployments and injuries forced the Johnsons to file for bankruptcy – something very common among wounded warriors. After several visits back and forth from their home in El Paso, Lisa once again gathered their three children to make the drive to be by their father’s bedside. Unfortunately, a massive wind gust flipped Lisa’s car, ultimately killing all three children. After Operation Homefront put out the call for donations to assist the Johnsons, individual donors and the PGA TOUR raised $79,000 to help with expenses with the funeral, relocation to San Antonio, a basic car, and a memorial to the children at their school in El Paso. Thursday’s event will mark the final donation: Assistance in purchasing a new home in San Antonio so that Specialist Johnson can continue his recovery and the couple can begin a new life.
EVENT: Ribbon cutting on Johnson Family home
Location: 121 Cenizo Springs, Cibolo, TX (San Antonio suburb)
Time: 9:30 am, January 3, 2008
PARTICIPANTS: Amy Palmer of Operation Homefront,
the Johnson Family, and representatives from the
PGA TOUR, USAA, KB Homes, AT&T, Valero and more.
For more information, please visit www.operationhomefront.net or contact Meredith Leyva at 757-410-4926 or meredith@operationhomefront.net.
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About Operation Homefront & CinCHouse.com
What is today Operation Homefront began in 2001 as a military spouse-generated idea. In response to the shortcoming of support for the families of deployed service members, CinCHouse.com members (military wives and women in uniform) created the project that has evolved into a major nonprofit charity serving 34 military communities. Today CinCHouse.com operates as a program as part of the nonprofit Operation Homefront family. From a good idea, to a great organization, Operation Homefront understands and takes care of the needs of the military community.
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