THE FOUNDING STORY
John Gallina and the late Dale Beatty were friends before they were brothers-in-arms. They joined the North Carolina National Guard together while still in high school, serving their community during hurricane and disaster relief missions before deploying together in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On Nov. 15, 2004, Gallina and Beatty were traveling in an armored Humvee near Ramadi, Iraq, when their vehicle struck an anti-tank mine. The explosion nearly killed them both. Beatty suffered catastrophic injuries that resulted in the loss of both legs below the knee. Gallina sustained a traumatic brain injury, spinal injuries, and other wounds whose effects continued long after he returned home.
Their injuries looked different, but both men faced the same difficult road ahead: rebuilding their lives after combat.
When Beatty returned to Statesville, North Carolina, the local community rallied around him and his family. The Iredell County Home Builders Association, volunteers, and local supporters came together to build a wheelchair accessible home on land provided by Beatty's family. Beatty and Gallina, both of whom had construction experience, worked alongside the community throughout the project.
Building the home gave them more than an accessible place for Beatty and his family to live. It gave both men a renewed sense of purpose.
It also raised an important question: what happened to Veterans who didn't have a community, resources, or network of support ready to help them?
Gallina and Beatty understood that their combat injuries were not fundamentally different from those carried by Veterans of Vietnam, Korea, World War II and other conflicts. Yet many older Veterans had lived for decades in homes that no longer met their physical needs. Some of those Veterans could not safely enter their own homes, navigate narrow doorways, or use their own bathrooms without assistance.
NO VETERAN LEFT BEHIND
Founded on a promise between two wounded Veterans, Purple Heart Homes exists to ensure every Veteran has a safe place to call home.
COMMUNITIES ANSWER THE CALL
Volunteers, partners, donors, and local organizations come together to accomplish what no one could do alone.
LIVES ARE CHANGED
Every project restores more than a home. It helps Veterans remain independent and reminds them their service will never be forgotten.
Purple Heart Homes, Inc. does not and shall not discriminate, when making determinations of whether applicants are eligible for services, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.
Purple Heart Homes endeavors to provide services to and for disabled and honorably discharged Veterans, and will make applicant eligibility decisions on this basis alone.
501[C]3 Non-Profit
Founded by Veterans for Veterans
EIN 26-3516121
