Idaho veteran Chad Pfeifer will receive a new home in Caldwell through the national nonprofit Homes For Our Troops. The public is invited to attend the Pfeifer family’s key ceremony on Saturday. (Courtesy of the Home For Our Troops YouTube page)
On April 12, 2007, during his first combat deployment, Army Specialist Chad Pfeifer‘s vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device on its way back to base in Iskandariyah, Iraq.
The blast resulted in the loss of his left leg above the knee, a right heel fracture and partial hearing loss in both ears. Pfeifer was first airlifted to Baghdad, and once back in the United States, he recovered at Brooke Army Medical Center.
Now, the national nonprofit organization Homes For Our Troops will donate an adaptive home to Pfeifer, who served with the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. And the community is invited to celebrate.
Check-in for the key ceremony will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, and the event will begin at 10 a.m., according to a Homes For Our Troops press release. The public is welcome to attend and tour the home, located at 20579 Ustick Road in Caldwell, after the ceremony.
Pfeifer was playing basketball as a sophomore in college when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks happened in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. He was called to act when he finished his schooling, he said in an interview with Homes For Our Troops.
“I … felt that urge to do something about it, and as soon as I was done with baseball, I actually joined the Army,” he said. “I loved the structure of it, the brotherhoods. There’s nothing quite like it.”
Now medically retired, Pfeifer told Homes For Our Troops that he loves spending time with his wife, Summer, and their three boys: Grady, Lucien and Barrett. And when he’s not cheering on his boys’ sports teams, Pfeifer is an avid golfer.
“Although he leads an active lifestyle, Chad faces daily obstacles within his home,” according to the Homes For Our Troops website. “Due to the carpet throughout the two-story home making it difficult to maneuver a wheelchair, Chad is forced to wear his prosthetic to accomplish tasks. Summer worries that Chad will fall while taking a shower or trying to reach the kitchen cabinets, risking further injury.”
That’s why the new home features more than 40 major special adaptations such as widened doorways for wheelchair access, a roll-in shower, and kitchen amenities that include pull-down shelving and lowered countertops. The home will also alleviate mobility and safety issues associated with a traditional home, including navigating a wheelchair through narrow hallways or over thresholds, riding on carpets, or reaching for cabinets that are too high, according to the press release.
Homes For Our Troops will donate the Caldwell home thanks to contributions from donors, supporters and corporate partners.
To Pfeifer, the home is a life-changing opportunity.
“We know how appreciative several of the recipients are and how much easier their lives have been since receiving their house,” Pfeifer said in the release. “The impact is huge.”
There are over 65 active Homes For Our Troops projects underway nationwide, and the organization has built 400 homes for post-9/11 veterans across the U.S since it was established in 2004. To find out how to get involved or make a donation, go to www.hfotusa.org.
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