Contact: Rebecca Bamberger
BAM Communications
C: 619-917-5109
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Diego college students and recent graduatesrestore home of low-income, disabled veteran
homeowners as part of H3 ProgramOver a two-day period, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., 50 volunteers
joined forces to carry out the project in Escondido
San Diego, Ca, August 11, 2011- Current college students and recentgraduates from San Diego State University (SDSU), University of California SanDiego (UCSD) and Marquette carried out their first home restoration project aspart of Embrace's "Healing Our Heroes' Homes" (H3) Program on July 30th – 31st.
With goals to restore the homes of low-income, disabled veteran homeowners,H3 falls in line with Embrace's mission to mobilize college student volunteers toserve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities.
The weekend-long effort took place at the Escondido home of wounded veteransLee and Heide White; both army veterans of the Vietnam Era. Members of theSDSU Physical Plant Department oversaw the project and supervised all theelectrical, painting, plumbing, and carpentry work. Altogether, the skilledtradesmen logged 253 hours of volunteer work valued at $16,272 worth oflabor.
The project included:
Landscaping of 2.5-acre propertyRemoval of two large treesPainted entire Exterior of homeInstalled handicap railings in bathtub/showerRemedied plumbing issuesBroken Window replacementRemedied electrical issuesReplaced ceiling and installed tile flooring in officeInstalled new work station surfaces and countertops in officeReplaced and restored outdoor lightingDebris removalWater stain removal (ceilings)
"Everyone involved, from the college students to the Physical Plant skilledlaborers were chomping at the bit to serve such a special couple. If a day ortwo of work can make their lives a little easier, increase the value of their home,and allow them to save some money, we'll sign up for that any day," said SeanSheppard, Founder and CEO of Embrace. "With the college students choosing toserve the veteran community at an early age, these young leaders-in-waitingare accumulating service learning experiences that will benefit them for the restof their lives."
College student volunteers and recent graduates hailed from San Diego StateUniversity, UCSD and Marquette including the SDSU Women’s BasketballTeam. Smoking Joe’s Barbeque provided lunch for the volunteers.
The project was made possible through a partnership with SDG&E's EnergySavings Assistance Program (ESAP) and $19,000 of seed funding from theLeichtag Family Foundation, the Grainger Foundation, The Weingart Foundationand Murray Galinson.
Embrace's H3 Program aims to utilize college students to restore the homes ofscores of low-income, disabled veteran homeowners. The program's goals areto create a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic service learning experience for collegestudents, connect young adults to veteran community members in need, raiseawareness of low income, disabled veterans, and increase the value and efficientuse of their homes.
Several homes per quarter will be restored through the H3 program andEmbrace's CommYOUnity Chefs program will consistently provide quality diningexperiences for all volunteers.
For more information about Embrace and the H3 Program, visitwww.embrace1.org/h3.
About Embrace
Embrace, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, connects universities and collegeswith local government to create a community outreach/service-learning modelthat utilizes college students to remedy community problems such as health andhomelessness on a volunteer basis. His ultimate goal is to bring aboutlegislation that makes community service mandatory for all college students thatattend state funded institutions of higher education. In 2007, Sean Sheppardbegan volunteering his time to serve homeless civilians and veterans once aweek with the San Diego Chargers and soon discovered that he had a passionfor improving the lives of the homeless population.
Visit www.embrace1.org for more information.
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