Veteran given mortgage free, specially-adapted home
Chuck Lewis photo
Linda Sappington
Daughter Olivia receives a handprint to hang in her room, a valentine gift Tomy Parker in grade school made
Linda Sappington
Lisa Jennison-Corbett presents a sign to her son, Tomy, to remind him to keep the faith and “never stop believing that things happen for a reason.”
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POLSON — He came home to a hero’s welcome, but now he’s truly home.
Lance Corporal Thomas L. Parker, United States Marine Corps — also known as Tomy — was handed the keys to a brand new house on Saturday, mortgage free.
The home has more than 150 adaptations to help make the wounded veteran’s everyday tasks easier, including wider doorways and hallways; roll-under counters, stovetops, and sinks; and roll-in showers.
The master bedroom closet is even a steel-reinforced concrete storm room built to FEMA standards, “so if you do have a high wind incidence out here, the family can go in there. They don’t have to try go down to a local shelter,” Bill Ivey, Homes for Our Troops executive director said. “That’s real important for our guys in Kansas and Nebraska.”
Although Tomy is the first recipient of a Homes for Our Troops house in 2015, his home is the 180th home gifted to a wounded veteran throughout 39 states. Currently the organization has 24 homes in various stages of construction, with 23 more in the process of seeking land.
Roughly 70 percent of donations to the grass roots organization come from individuals. Because Homes for Our Troops relies on word-of-mouth rather than advertising, 90 cents of every dollar goes directly toward building homes for severely-injured veterans.
“We don’t see Homes for Our Troops as a charity,” Ivey said. “We see ourselves as a vehicle for the American people to repay a debt to these great soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guard that ran a significant sacrifice for our freedom and independence, so we can build them a home and restore some of that freedom and independence to those veterans.”
Tomy thanked Homes for Our Troops during Saturday’s ceremony, describing the home as “absolutely incredible.” He was also grateful to the community for pulling together.
“When I was growing up I hated a tight-knit community, because I would do something in the morning and my mom would know before lunch,” he said, drawing a laugh. “But after I got wounded, I really like that we have a tight-knit community and everybody really helps everybody when somebody is in need.”
Tomy also thanked Tracy Frank and Kicking Horse Job Corp for working on Volunteer Day, and “Amanda, for putting up with me.”
Tomy will share the home with his fiancé Amanda Hout and two daughters. Lisa Jennison-Corbett, Tomy’s mother, presented the young girls with two Valentine-themed plaster handprints that Parker made in first grade — the left hand for Olivia, the right hand for Eva — to hang in their bedrooms. She also gave Tomy and Amanda a steel sign that read, “keep the faith,” the mantra Corbett lived by in the four years since Tomy was injured.
“Please keep the faith. Never stop believing that things happen for a reason,” Corbett said.
Tomy’s tenacity was also touted by Senator Jon Tester, who considers Tomy a personal friend and an inspiration.
“Since being injured, he’s shown superhuman courage and determination to live an independent life,” Tester wrote in a letter read at the ceremony. “And today he starts a new life in a home of his own. Today is a testament to Tomy never giving up.”
