Suffolk Gold Star mom able to keep home with help from VFW, local contractors
SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Gold Star mother can stay in the home that’s been in her family for 80 years, but she almost had to move out.
The foundation was falling apart, and then a local military organization known for community service came to the rescue. Chesapeake VFW Post 2894 has helped other deserving military families with home repairs.
The home on East Pinner Street holds a lot of memories for Carrie Caldwell’s family, starting with her parents, who willed the home to her when they died.
But it’s also where she honors the memory of her son, Army Corporal Jonathan Williams. His picture in uniform and his Purple Heart are just a few of her tributes hanging on the wall that you can’t miss, because they’re right inside the front door.
Williams was killed 33 years ago at age 23 in the first Gulf War. A missile struck near his barracks in Saudi Arabia.
He wanted to attend Tidewater Community College, but when the war broke out, “he felt he had to go,” Caldwell said.
The city of Portsmouth even renamed the entrance to City Park to honor Williams. But as the years passed after Jonathan’s death, the family home began to fall apart.
“(The floor) was real soft,” she said. “Everywhere I went, I thought, I’m gonna fall through here eventually.”
Jim Ireland, service officer for VFW Post 2894, has seen cases like this before.
“They stay in the home and the house slowly deteriorates and they don’t have the money to fix it,” Ireland said.
So Ireland contacted Virginia Foundation Solutions, founded by Navy veteran Danny Farris.
“We are a military-owned company,” said VFS sales manager Brad Baker. “It’s third generation. Danny’s dad and his grandfather, they were all in the Navy.”
The Caldwell home was a mess.
“There was a lot of wood rot, pretty much all throughout the kitchen floor area,” Baker said. “The finished floor was chipping up. The tile was kind of coming up. The subfloor was all rotted.”
The VFS crew worked for about a week and shored up Caldwell’s cherished home. The new foundation would have cost more than $20,000, and Home Depot donated flooring materials, while Habitat provided free labor. So for Caldwell, here was no balance due at all.
“She was able to stay in this house. It was close to her having to leave, because the house was going down and she knew it,” Ireland said.
“I really, really, really appreciate it,” Caldwell said. “I enjoy it a lot better.”
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