Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Marshall Kennedy Project
GROUNDBREAKING SET FOR VETERAN’S HOME
FARMINGTON —A nonprofit, national organization that builds houses for veterans severely injured while serving will break ground on a new home in Farmington for U.S. Marine Sgt. Marshall Kennedy and his family.
The groundbreaking will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 15, at 452 Grandview Ct., in Twin Falls Subdivision, located west of City Hall off U.S. 62. Homes for Our Troops helps those veterans who have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries since Sept. 11, 2001.
Kennedy’s new home will be specially adapted to meet his physical needs.
The public is invited to the groundbreaking and the ceremony will be an opportunity to educate the community about the project and to introduce Kennedy and his family to the community, said Jennifer Reed, a spokeswoman for Homes for Our Troops.
She said the organization was founded in 2004 and has completed 114 homes in 33 states. On the average, she said it takes about three to four months to complete each home.
Kennedy was on his fourth deployment in June 2011, when he lost both of his legs and suffered severe damage to his left arm after stepping on an improvised explosive
“Most people are completely ignorant of what it’s like to be in a wheelchair until you are in a wheelchair.”
Sgt. Marshall Kennedy
device in Sangin, Afghanistan.
The team was on a routine clearance mission and checking a compound in the area for weapons. Kennedy “took a knee,” which means he positioned himself to assess the situation, and when doing so, his left foot hit a pressure plate of an explosive device.
He was thrown through the air and into a nearby wall. His legs were traumatically amputated and his squad members worked to save his life. Four days after the injury, Kennedy arrived at Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Since that time, he has undergone more than 35 surgeries.
Kennedy and his wife, Chelsie, and their two young sons will live in the Farmington home.
In a telephone interview, Kennedy said he and his wife wanted to live in northwest Arkansas because of the University of Arkansas and the economy in this area. He grew up in Forrest City.
He saw the site for his new home in July and said it was the first time he had been to Farmington.
“We liked it when we saw it,” Kennedy said.
He hopes to work for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and he and his wife also hope to finish their degrees at the university.
A new home built to fit his physical needs will help him and his family, Kennedy said.
“It will make life a lot easier,” Kennedy said. “Most people are completely ignorant of what it’s like to be in a wheelchair until you are in a wheelchair. Being in a wheelchair, you find out what is truly handicapped accessible and what is not. Just because there are bars in a bathroom stall doesn’t mean the stall is wide enough for me to get in.
The website, homesforourtroops.org, has information about the organization and Kennedy’s project. In an interview on this website, Chelsie Kennedy says that dealing with her husband’s injuries has made the family stronger. She notes that she now is “more appreciative of the little things.”
A barrier-free home will bring a “new normal” to the family and enable Kennedy to do things with his sons and help the family like he was able to do before, she said.
Reed said veterans apply for the program through an extensive application process. The home is built at no cost to the veterans but they are required to maintain the home.
The recipients are encouraged to sponsor fundraisers to raise funds to “pay it forward” and help build homes for other veterans.
Reed said Homes for Our Troops will sponsor a volunteer day and the community can become involved in a tangible way by helping with landscaping or cleaning up the site.