This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Firefighter Builds Homes for Veterans

The Lake Magdalene area resident spends much of his free time building homes for severely wounded veterans, including one in New Tampa.

Kelly Hallman firmly believes in helping those in need. In fact, his fulltime job requires it.

For the past 21 years, Hallman has served as a Hillsborough County firefighter and is currently stationed in Brandon.

Hallman, however, is a restless soul and is always looking for something else to do. So for the past eight years he has been a draftsman/designer at Soleil Design Build, Inc., in South Tampa. That firm specialize in redesigning, refurbishing and building high-end homes.

Find out what's happening in Carrollwood-Northdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I've been called an architect but I'm not registered," Hallman said.

While his firefighting duties enrich his soul by helping others and his designer job enables Hallman to feed his creative mind, two years ago the Lake Magdalene resident was able to find a way to combine both passions.

Find out what's happening in Carrollwood-Northdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While attending a firefighters' convention, Hallman learned of “Building Homes for Heroes,” a nonprofit agency that strives to redesign or build new homes for severely wounded veterans.

"I decided that was something I need to be involved in," Hallman said.

Since then, Hallman has devoted himself to the project, trying to comfort veterans who sacrificed so much. Hallman has designed new homes in New Tampa, Orlando and the Atlanta region.

Just last month a home Hallman designed was given to Army Sgt. Joel Tavera. While serving in Iraq on March 12, 2008, Tavera was injured in an attack that killed three of his fellow servicemen. Tavera was burned over 60 percent of his body, rendered blind, lost part of his right leg and all fingers of his left hand.

Worse, Tavara suffered a massive brain injury that left him disfigured. He has gone through 75 surgeries with more to come. Tavara has 24-hour needs from caretakers, currently his parents.

When Hallman talks about Tavera, he is almost brought to tears.

"At the time of his injuries, he was the second-most wounded veteran to come home from Iraq," Hallman said of Tavera. "Despite all of [his injuries], he's one of the happiest individuals you can ever meet. Just talking to him is truly an inspiration."

What moved Hallman to plunge himself into Building Homes for Heroes was that for every dollar the nonprofit receives, 93 cents gets to the intended party.

"There's not a lot of overhead," Hallman said. "They have one local office in Orlando and the office was donated."

Hallman's talents are very much needed by the group. Because of Veterans Affairs codes, requirements for new or refurbished homes for veterans far exceed those for set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

For example, homes must have 36-inch wide doors and zero-step thresholds, connecting the home to both the front sidewalk and a driveway or garage or carport. Kitchens, bathrooms, laundries and bedrooms that will be used by the veteran must have space for a 5-foot moving radius.

"Joel didn't want that for his kitchen because he said he won't be cooking," Hallman said. "The reason for the no-threshold rule is that the veteran has to be prepared for periods that he will need to use a wheelchair, even though Joel can move around."

Tavera's home in New Tampa was just one of four homes for veterans Hallman is involved in building. He's built one in Orlando and has another one scheduled to be erected there next year.

Currently, Hallman is working overtime to finish a home this month in Loganville, Ga., just northeast of Atlanta for another deserving veteran, who, while serving in Iraq, was shot through the frontal lobe of his brain.

"We are working feverishly to get his home project finished up so that he could be in his home for Christmas," Hallman said.

For more information about Building Homes for Heroes, visit the organization online.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Carrollwood-Northdale