Helping America’s Heroes: War Injuries Lead Custom Home Builders to Launch Purple Heart Homes (Ep #6)

00:02

Hey, folks, welcome to the Profiles Podcast presented by LL Flooring. I'm Tom Kraeutler, and if you work in the building, remodeling, design or decor businesses, this show is about pros just like you. It's where we seek out and interview extraordinary individuals who are running great businesses and willing to share some tips and tricks that are making a difference in the lives of their customers, their communities, and their employees.

If you have a tip you'd like to share or comment or question or topic you'd like us to cover, please reach out. You can email us at profiles@llflooring.com. That's profiles@llflooring.com, and you can also follow our episodes on the L L Flooring pro portal at llflooring.com/pro. And now let's get to work.

00:54

By any measure, John Gallina is one extraordinary individual. John was a successful new home builder who served in the North Carolina National Guard, and when duty called was deployed to Iraq and it was there that tragedy struck while clearing a route to Fallujah. John's unit struck two anti-tank mines, which left John with traumatic brain injuries and back injuries, and his friend and fellow soldier Dale Bailey, a double amputee. John and Dale returned to the U.S. as disabled veterans. And over time, they became acutely aware of the lack of badly needed services that vets had to have to live normal, productive lives. So, they did something about it, and they started Purple Heart Homes, a non-profit organization that provides housing assistance for service-connected vets and thus far completed over 750 projects for vets across the nation.

Meet John Gallina

1:50

John, thank you for your service and welcome to the Profiles Podcast.

01:55

John: Hey, Tom, thanks for having me on the show.

01:57

Tom: So, John, tell me about Purple Heart homes. Who is the organization and what exactly do you guys do?

02:02

John: Purple Heart Homes is a 501c3 nonprofit. We assist service-connected disabled veterans with their housing needs. You know, we come back from Iraq, and saw that there was a great need for a lot of older veterans to be able to have accessibility in their homes. And so now we go in or remodel bathrooms and widen doorways provide needs for accessibility to disabled veterans.

02:27

Tom: So, tell me, John, how did you guys get started with Purple Heart homes? I understand you started with Dale Beatty, who has passed away. You guys are veterans. You served in Iraq with honor, and when you got home, you discovered a need. So, tell me about that need.

Tragedy Strikes and Reveals Huge Needs for Veterans Old and Young

02:42

John: Well, while Dale and I were in Iraq, our vehicle struck two anti-tank mines while doing a route clearance into Fallujah. And in the process, Dale will come home as a double amputee, I came home with traumatic brain injury and back injuries. We were starting to realize more personally the accessibility needs that veterans face when they return home. Our community stepped up to help Dale build a house that was accessible and met his needs as a double amputee. When the home was finished, we stood back and we realized just how many Vietnam veterans and other veterans from past wars were present there, helping us. And as a general contractor myself, I said, "You know, Hey, this is something that we could, we could, we could expand and replicate." And so, we started looking at other veterans and their living conditions and realized that a lot of amputees were crawling into their bathrooms. They couldn't get through the doorway. It just wasn't wide enough. A lot of amputees had carpeting in their in their homes, which is a trip hazard, and it's really tough to navigate with a wheelchair. So, we started looking for partners and supporters to be able to renovate those homes. We're using volunteers and community support. And now we have a charity that works nationwide and has renovated over 750 homes.

04:03

Tom: Now, back when you started the organization, were there no other similar organizations out there that were helping disabled vets to improve their housing situations?

04:13

John: Some of the challenges that we saw Tom as we as we started the charity was that most organizations that were present and working in the nonprofit market space were there, supporting only post 9/11 veterans and only the ones that were most severely injured. And there's a lot of veterans that serve, that may not have served during wartime, but maybe they suffer from Parkinson's disease where they, you know, have a challenge walking on flooring types like carpet. And so, we, you know, we want to help those veterans to want to help those Vietnam veterans. You know, the same thing, you know, whether they're suffering from an amputation or whether they're suffering from debilitating illnesses caused by Agent Orange that, you know, might put them in a wheelchair or make their mobility a little more difficult due to cancer and things of that nature.

05:03

Tom: It's amazing. You know, we do tend to focus on, I guess, the most recent war, correct? But we don't hear a lot about servicing for those veterans from World War Two or Korea or Vietnam. I understand that you recently completed your 750th project where you added a roof and ramp and some new floors for a veteran who served in Vietnam. So, I mean, that's fantastic. I think we need more focus on the aging veteran population.

05:30

Tom: That's right. Wow. Well, Mr. Adams is 78 years old. He's not an amputee, but he uses a walker. And in those, you know, variations and walking surfaces make a big difference. Having steps to navigate are a huge obstacle for him and certainly things like roofing, you know, repairs where many of our elder and senior veterans are on fixed incomes, having a roof that leaks causing mold and things of that nature can really be a health hazard. So, we want to address those issues as well.

750 Homes Completed but Need is Immense

06:07

Tom: Well, 750 homes is an amazing accomplishment. I know this is probably a hard question to answer, but how big is the need to provide housing assistance for veterans? Can you help us put it in perspective for our audience?

06:19

John: Tom, I tell you, I never had full understanding when I was, you know, deploying into combat just what life was going to be like after. And you know, you think you deploy into, you know, combat theater. You're going to come home and you're going to go back to work and be successful, but there's so many variations of injury and so many variations of need and the struggles, and we hear a lot about homelessness and just how many homeless people there are out there. And there's not a lot of focus on, you know, what the needs are for those that have a home. But we receive between three to five applications a day from veterans that have need of home critical home repairs. And they range from ramps to bathrooms to leaky roofs to no air conditioning or no heat. And when you're living in Alaska and you're using an open flame heater and it's 40 degrees below zero, that's a critical need when you're living in and Southern California, and it's 109 degrees and you have no air conditioning and you're 70 years old. That's a critical need. And so, the need is so vast and so widespread. It is truly hard to quantify, but there are, you know, upward of three million service-connected disabled veterans that live in our country. Those are veterans that were injured in the line of service, doing their duty for our nation to provide freedoms for our country and many others around the world. And they're unable to live a life. As often we say, you know, to find the American dream, which I believe is simply qualified as a peaceful place to live. And when your home is in disrepair and when you can't navigate your home or you can't get in or out the front door, that's not peace.

08:15

Tom: Wow. Well, thank God there are organizations like you've formed and people like you to help some of these veterans. They say there's three million veterans that need this type of assistance, are there no federal programs to assist them? Is there situations where there are programs, but veterans are unaware of it? I mean, there always is a social service sort of part to doing this work where there are benefits that are available, but veterans just don't have the advocates to fight for it or help them cut through the paperwork.

Even Social Services Can’t Keep Up with Demand

08:46

John: Tom, I really think it's a kind of a two-part answer there to your question. And first, I'd just like to say it is a social issue is a whole and we as citizens are the ones that receive the benefits of the freedoms that that are, you know, American troops have fought for and have sacrificed for. And I believe that we owe it to them as people and as citizens to be able to support them in their time of need. And we can do that with critical home repairs and it's not just Purple Heart Homes that's out doing that work. There's hundreds of other organizations that do great work. But beyond that, it's the volunteers. It's the individuals that go out and come alongside us and put in the sweat and the donations to be able to make it happen. And so, we're grateful for that. Could not do it on my own, no matter, no matter how much I could have ever tried. You know, with I might have gotten seven homes done, but the 750 that you know, plus that have been completed through Purple Heart Homes has been because of the efforts of the common citizen has come alongside and said, "We want to we want to support those who have served.” As for the need as a whole and where the government support is, is that there are programs through the VA and through HUD that provide for both funding and support for critical home repairs and things like ramps.

80-year old Vet Waits 9 Months for a Ramp to Leave Home

9:05

Oftentimes the need is so great that even our government programs can't keep up the backlog to get a ramp. We helped one veteran in Hawaii with a ramp about two years ago and he was on a waiting list for nine months to receive a ramp from the VA. And we were able to go out with private donations and volunteers and provide him a ramp in three weeks. And so, you can imagine being 80 years old and coming home from the hospital and needing a ramp so you can get an out of your home on your own and avoid having to wait that long. And so, it becomes a challenge.

Vietnam Vets Face Special Challenges

9:15

And the other part of it is, as you alluded too, there's both an awareness issue and a little bit of pride in, particularly in our Vietnam generation. Many of the Vietnam veterans, when they come home, they did not receive a warm welcome and therefore they decided that they didn't want anything to do with the VA or anything to do with any government support. And so, they never enrolled in the in the Veterans Administration in order to be able to receive those benefits. And so now and as seniors, when they go and try and enroll 50 years after they got out of service, it takes time to get them into the system where they can receive those benefits. And if you're suffering from Agent Orange and a heart condition and cancer and diabetes and maybe a loss of limb due to the diabetes waiting for a year or two years to get enrolled into the system so you can get access to the ramp, it's just too long. The system is flooded with, you know, nearly two million plus service members that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan over the course of the last 15 plus years now. So, there are some falls there which leave gaps that open the door for opportunity for charities like Purple Heart Homes to step in and support in a very meaningful and impactful way.

12:12

Tom: I'm talking to John Gallina. He is the CEO and co-founder of Purple Heart Homes, an organization that's dedicated to providing housing solutions for service, connected, disabled and aging veterans. John, you mentioned that you had some remodeling experience where you were a remodeler before you went into the service?

12:28

John: I was a new home contractor and typically built custom homes and track homes.

12:35

Tom: So how long did you do that? Do you have a business doing that before you went into the service?

12:40

John: I did, and I served in the North Carolina National Guard. And so even while I was in the service during my weekend duties and my summer camp duties, I would build homes, you know, just as anybody else during the normal workweek.

12:56

Tom: So, I guess when you came home from Iraq, you to your initial thought was you were going to go back to doing new home construction until you discovered this need, is that how this happened?

Returning from Iraq: New Perspective on Veterans Drove Decision to Launch Purple Heart Homes

13:00

John: It is, and it was really, really kind of interesting. As I went back into the workplace, I was very fortunate. A gentleman in Winston-Salem had a company and I just didn't really have the energy, if you will, to start back up my own business and went to work for another contractor, and he was gracious and give me some work and I went to my subdivision and the first day on my way to the subdivision, I saw a young veteran stand and holding the sign, saying "Will work for food. Homeless need help". And it just it really caught my attention for the next six months driving in and out of that subdivision, I would see a variety of veterans holding signs. Then one day I just, you know, it clicked with me that I had to do something to be able to help my brothers and sisters in arms that were suffering. I started becoming more acutely aware of the need that they had. And that's the point at which we started studying them and looking at, you know, why is it that some veterans are getting support and some veterans aren't?

Across the Nation: 13 Chapters and Growing

14:08

Tom: Well, now here we are all these years later. You now have over 30 employees. You're headquartered in Statesville, North Carolina, and you have 13 chapters nationwide. Can you talk to me a little bit about how you're organized and how you get the work out and the assistance out to veterans that are so widely spaced across the country? You mentioned examples, the example of the veteran in in Alaska who was heating his home by an open fire. You're over in North Carolina. How do you how are you connecting the dots and getting the job done?

14:39

John: You know, it's really been interesting to say it spreads like wildfire is probably an understatement. But when we join the service, you know, you meet people from all different walks of life from all over the world and you develop these friendships and bonds that truly last a lifetime. And in the process, when you help one veteran, that veteran, you know, knows at least 10 more that they are aware have needs and they share those needs and applications just flew in from all over the place. We've received applications from Germany and Australia and Philippines and of course, Hawaii and Alaska. And so, over the course of time, it's really been through that network of veterans that the word has spread. And I find that the American spirit and willingness to serve is as healthy as ever when they have an opportunity and to serve a veteran and be able to help somebody in need. It never ceases to amaze me how many people step up, and sometimes we're even overwhelmed with the amount of support that is that is poured out when you go out and tell the community how a veteran is living and the conditions that they're experiencing, and that there is a need that they can step up and help.

15:55

Tom: How do you form chapters? Are these individuals that just reached out to you express a desire to serve in this capacity and you provide support for them on starting a chapter? If we have listeners that are in states where you don't have a chapter and they'd like to get involved, tell me about that process.

16:11

John: Well, Tom, it's great opportunities like this with the Profiles Podcast where we're listeners of this podcast or hear of the story and hear the work. And maybe they know of a veteran or a neighbor or friend that, you know, needs some support and they'd like to get involved. And oftentimes a chapter starts with a simple project, a volunteer stepping up and saying, "Hey, look, I want to help somebody." And after they see the fruit of their labor and realize the impact of helping a veteran with a ramp or helping a veteran have accessibility to a bathroom where they can, you know, go in and take a bath by themselves and they get to keep some of their dignity intact and not happen to have a caregiver come in and help them in and out of the bathtub. Not have happen to have a caregiver or neighbor come in and carry them in and out the front door because their door is not wide enough to have to leave their home. And people realize the impact, and they say, "Hey, we want to do this again." And they get two or three more friends together. And next thing you know, they're forming a chapter where they get to do this work with support of our team here out of state of North Carolina and support of all of our systems and programs support that enable them to be able to do more and help the larger part of their community and most communities. We don't just have one veteran. There is a multitude of veterans.

17:33

Tom: Now you were founded in 2008, and you focused initially on aging in place improvements. Is that about, right? But now you're actually doing a lot more. You now have the Veteran Home Opportunity Project, which encompasses rentals and tiny homes and home ownership opportunities. Can you talk to me about some of the other opportunities that you have created for veterans since your founding?

Feeling Worthy: The Unforgettable Jimmy Lee

17:57

John: Just as you said in 2008, our primary focus was just helping those older veterans that already own the home be able to have greater accessibility. We soon realized that, you know, there was a lot of younger veterans and some older veterans that didn't own a home. And one of the stories that I'll never forget was with a veteran. Jimmy Lee and Jimmy also has since passed. And when we first met Jimmy, he was living in Osawatomie, Kansas, and he was living in a travel trailer, a 14-foot travel trailer. Him, his wife and his three dogs and just broke my heart. Jimmy is a Vietnam veteran. And when I met Jimmy, he just wanted a safe place to call home that he didn't have to worry about a tornado carrying it away, that he could get in and out of his bathroom without, you know, bumping up against the walls and bruising his arms. And he had some, some struggles from Agent Orange. And so, we worked with a bank that provided a home for us that we renovated. They donated the home, we renovated it. And in a way, our program works is the veteran gets a mortgage for 50 percent of the appraised value of the home. The other 50 percent of the value of the home is donated to the veteran. And so, they get to have a little skin in the game, if you will, and process they're proud of home is also left intact. And I'll never forget the words that Jimmy spoke to me still gets me choked up when I think about it. When we were sitting at the closing table and the lawyer brought in that three-inch stack of papers for Jimmy to sign and him and his wife were sitting there and Jimmy looks over at me with tears in his eyes, and he says, "I never thought anybody found me worthy to give me a mortgage", and that just that just baffled me. It wasn't just the home. It was the fact that he had a part in providing that home for his family. And you see, he had been living in that travel trailer because he was on a fixed income and the way the mortgages were structured and the needs and his credit and his past and everything from the time he was in the service in Vietnam, coming home had been a struggle, and he just wanted, like everybody else, to be considered a normal person to be considered somebody that that could provide for his family, that he could achieve that American dream of having a peace and a safe place to live.

20:30

Tom: I suspect that Jimmy is not alone in that feeling of unworthiness, that many veterans. That really is the heart of the problem. That mean that's where it ends up with all the things that's happened in their lives since serving and coming home and struggling. It's almost a state of depression that they find themselves in, not feeling worthy enough to get the kind of assistance they truly need. Is that a common sort of feeling that runs through some of your clients?

20:54

John: I believe that is the root of post-traumatic stress and what every single veteran that's ever served has some experience with. And this is contrasted with a pride of service and contrasted with their training of adapting and overcoming and the problem is, all of all of that training was relying on the man and woman to your right or left and the support of the unit. But after you get out of the service, you no longer have the support of the unit. It's hard to do on your own.

Tiny Homes and Big Opportunities

21:26

Tom: Tell me about the tiny home program. I mean, that's a program tiny homes are more popular than ever these days. The additional dwelling units is a popular element to home sales these days. A lot of folks are looking for homes that have the opportunity for additional units. And then of course, there's a lot of folks that can't afford a larger home but can certainly afford and enjoy a tiny home. How are you guys focusing on tiny homes and what does that program entail?

21:51

John: Really, the tiny home movement, I believe, is driven by a couple of factors. One, the trend of the minimalist mentality of less is more giving you more freedom to enjoy life and nature and travel. Another being affordability the time of the mega mansions, you know, I believe as is slowly passing away and people are no longer looking for those three to six-thousand square foot homes. And so, the trend there is helping to make it more acceptable for these, you know, smaller sized homes that are that are certainly more affordable. The idea that you know, a single person that may be homeless or living in a boarding shelter or living in a transitional shelter or living in a in a friend's living room, you know, is this offers an opportunity to have something that's their own, that's fully accessible, giving them, you know, freedom of movement inside and outside of the home.

22:58

It doesn't require, you know, the cost of land that's, you know, exorbitant when you're talking about, you know, five to ten acres of land or, you know, even an acre of land, we can typically put two to three of these homes on one acre of land. And so, it just, you know, makes a lot of sense for affordability and being able to increase the number of folks that we're able to serve. And it's really, you know, an aesthetically appealing product. They're built just like you would have you would see a home that was built on site. Meet all the HUD standards for mortgage and the ability for somebody to have an ownership. It's not like it's a trailer on wheels. It's not something you'd pull behind your pickup truck. You know, there are about 500 square feet on average. We can do some customizing. And with that, you know, again, it's something that the individual can own and have some pride in that ownership.

23:57

Tom: That's amazing. Yeah, and I would imagine since the cost is less to construct them, you have the opportunity to do more of these than certainly you'd be able to do if you had single family homes. And it's impressive that these are properties that actually banks will invest in, that they'll provide mortgages for because I think that's, you know, that's an area where a lot of folks that have invested in tiny homes have found challenges because, you know, to the bank, "Is this a motorhome, you know?" Or is this an investable piece of real estate that's locked on the ground it's on?"

24:25

John: Yeah, this is a product, a home product that is on a traditional foundation, a block foundation just like your home that you go out and buy from a custom builder, whether it's a D.R. Horton or Pulte or, you know, it's the same framing, same siding, same drywall, same hardwood flooring. Everything is it's just like you would have in a traditionally built home.

Pros and Volunteers Mix to Build Big Dreams for Vets

24:53

Tom: You spoke a lot about your chapter organization and the volunteers that serve you, but you rely 100 percent on volunteers. Or do you also use general contractors to help tackle some of the more involved projects?

25:07

John: We do rely on general contractors and subcontractors in various regions, both where we have chapters and where we don't have chapters or volunteers. You know, they're professionals in the marketplace, they know the community, they know their products and enable us to be able to execute projects, sometimes in a faster manner and many times. You know, depending on the work that needs to be done, whether it's a heating and air system or whether it's electrical panel upgrades, there are certain licensors that are required that we want to make sure in place that the work is done correctly.

25:43

Tom: Well, obviously that takes an investment in those services. So, you are sponsored, supported. Can you tell me about how your sponsors are able to help you get this work done and maybe any stories of sponsors in particular that have been really helpful?

26:00

John: You know, sponsors are probably one of our most critical components and we consider them more partners. It's less that they're just coming in and providing a donation, but more often than not, they network us to the people that can help us execute the mission. They are, you know, groups like LL Flooring, who not only helped provide us product and discounts and donations, but they also helped introduce us to subcontractors that will install that product and ensure that it's done in a professional manner and that's going to serve that veteran well for the lifetime.

26:39

Tom: Can you give us an example of a successful project that you're proud of? I mean, I'm sure you're proud of all your projects and asking you to pick one is like asking for your favorite kid. But I mean, can you talk about some of the some of the real noteworthy projects that stand out in your mind?

26:54

John: Well, there are so many Tom. You're right, it's really tough. This most recent of Mr. Adams was huge down in Charlotte, and I've got a few others that, you know, I don't get to go to all the projects unfortunately, there's a great expense. So, you know, projects, whether they be in Hawaii or Alaska, I don't always personally get to get to go to those. No matter how desirable that location might be.

Purple Heart Homes Helps Married Marines Achieve the Dream of Home Ownership

27:05

More often than not, the projects in and around the Charlotte market and in the southeast, I get to go to those ones that I can drive to. There's a couple that stand out. The Christopher family is one that stands out and is always in the forefront of my mind. They're both Iraq veterans and both of them received Purple Hearts. They actually met in the Marine Corps. I like to kind of joke about it being, you know, love at first sight in the Marine Corps. But you know, so Ben and Samantha both join the Marine Corps just after 9/11, and they wound up deploying together. And Ben has multiple deployments. And, you know, after they were injured and they were recovering, they were discharged from the service and in the process, they got married and they were out looking for a home. We had one of our homes in the community was being advertised with one of our realtor partners looking for a veteran and family to be able to put into that home. They called us. We explained the program to them. And once we came to an agreement with them and you know, what needs they had in the home, we went in, and we were able to renovate that home. And one of the partnerships and opportunities that we had was with LL Flooring, where we went in and replaced all of the flooring in the home. We worked with another one of our partners, Owens Corning, replaced all of the roof. We went in with another one of our partners, National Gypsum, and did a bunch of drywall work to finish out the garage. They have a couple of young children and, you know, help with just making the yard safe and giving them the accessibility and support that they needed. And the way the program works is the requirement for the veteran is to live in the home for five years after the veterans lived in the home for five years. They can do whatever they want with it. And so, the Christopher's, they didn't really want to be in that particular neighborhood. They had, you know, a desire to be on a larger piece of land and to have a little more seclusion, if you will. And like most veterans, they want to be in a rural area. And so, after five years and they have completed their part of the agreement, actually sold the house and were able to with the support that of what they had gained in the home, were able to buy their dream property. And so, they're now living on a farm that's over 50 acres that they have started their own kind of charity to be able to support veterans and doing fishing and hunting and things of that nature. And we see that so often that once we help a veteran and we get them up on their feet and we give them the tools and resources that they need, they want to pay it forward and help others with it. And that's what we count as our most successful stories. Is this when other people are helped as a residual effect?

30:28

Tom: Can you tell me about any business challenges that you've had to overcome and what advice would you give to anyone that's listening who has faced similar situations in developing a nonprofit?

Collaborations Offer Solutions and Opportunities

30:40

John: Oh, boy, that's a tough question here, Tom. There are lots of business challenges in creating a nonprofit. You know, it's certainly as a grunt as we, you know, often refer to ourselves. You're not necessarily keen on writing a business plan. That's first and foremost, you need you need to have a good business plan. But I would say one of the biggest challenges that I think that I see most people struggle with is this idea of sticking to their plan and doing it on their own. Collaboration is the key. You cannot do it on your own. While there are literally tens of thousands of nonprofits out there and tens of thousands of businesses out there, you can't be in competition with one another. You've got to be willing to work with one another for the greater good and to overcome the cost and the need that is present all around us. And so, we, you know, we really have to, you know, open ourselves up daily to realize that, you know, we've got to work together no matter what our differences are, no matter what our competitiveness is. We've got to put all of that aside and realize that we're all focusing on the mission. And our mission is to help provide safe, affordable housing for service-connected disabled veterans.

32:07

Tom: You know, and that is in part why we started the Profile's Podcast because we know that those that are in our industry are fiercely independent and they not they don't often have the opportunity to learn from each other. And we hope that through vehicles like this and hearing stories like yours and others that we are able to share with each other, some of the successes and the lessons that we've learned over time and with the goal being that a rising tide sails all ships. And that sounds to me like exactly what you've done, John. You've sailed a lot of ships that were captained by veterans that needed some assistance over the years. What do you think has changed in the construction and remodeling industry over the years that has impacted your business in one way or another? Are some things easier than when you started?

32:52

John: It's a really interesting question there. There are a number of changes that have happened both in the industry and in society as a whole. And I'll start with the societal aspect. A protracted time of war has created a great amount of apathy. There is less support today for helping veterans than there was, you know, 10 or 15 years ago. And the appetite for war has changed. And consequently, while we still are supportive of our veterans as a whole, there's fewer people that realize that there is a great need still today as great today as there was, you know, when we were first entering into Operation Iraqi freedom. And it's not just the men and women that are returning home from the battlefield today that are suffering and in need. But it's the veterans that are suffering from Agent Orange. Still 50 years after Vietnam, there are still veterans that are suffering and have me and some of them just realized or just started experiencing some of those injuries, whether it's again, a heart condition, diabetes, cancer, there's over a dozen different ailments from that one type of injury that one chemical, that one moment that they come in contact, that they have, they have this lifelong need of support. And so, I find that, you know, apathy is one of our greatest combatants and what we are just constantly trying to overcome. As the construction market has also changed, whether it's through the through the bubble bursting in 08 and seeing a flood of foreclosures and housing needs changing for the nation as a whole, or whether it's, you know, the rise in cost of materials due to the pandemic. You know, there's a challenge there as well a shortage of labor, especially that, you know, technical and trade labor we lack as a nation, we lack tradesmen. And while it's been great that you know, we've had this focus on, you know, professional college level job creation, we need tradesmen that are carpenters and plumbers and electricians and roofing contractors. And so, when you go into communities in rural Kentucky and rural Michigan and you can't find a carpenter or a roofer or plumber for a hundred miles, then that becomes a challenge when you're in need, whether you're just a homeowner or whether you're a veteran, that's in need of some critical repairs.

35:40

Tom: Absolutely. There's just a huge skills gap in this country, and I know that everyone in the industry is aware of it, and there are those that are doing what they can to try to combat it. But you know, like you say, there's a big opportunity for those that want to get into the trades. And there's a lot of financial success and you can build a great business and a great life by pursuing these trades, and I think that in some respects, you're providing opportunities for those that are interested in the trades to learn a little bit by working on your projects. Have you had any young men or women that wanted to learn more about construction help with these projects?

36:19

John: One of my greatest joys is being able to work with high school volunteer groups and being able to see the light bulb go off that not only does hard work pay off, but that they can make a tremendous impact in other people's lives by that hard work that they put out and being able to see them get interested in and a variety of trades work and be able to get interested in military service. It always warms my heart.

36:48

Tom: Well, you're talking to a former industrial arts teacher here, so I couldn't agree with you more. There certainly is a lot of opportunity. And today, you know, it always strikes me that, you know, we don't have shop classes so much anymore. You know, we have makerspace and things of that nature. But we're literally graduating kids through schools that in some cases don't know which under the hammer to hold. And that's sad because there's a lot of opportunity in the trades for folks today, and it bodes for a very good future if they're aware of it. So, to the extent that you're helping do just that, that's fantastic.

37:25

John: And don't get me wrong, I'm glad that some of them know which button to push on the 3D printer, but it'd be nice if they knew how to use a hammer and nail, right?

37:33

Tom: Absolutely. Well, John Gallina, CEO, co-founder of Purple Heart Homes Thank you so much, sir, for the service that you provided to this country and the service that you continue to provide to our veterans from all of our wars to make them happy and healthy and safe in their homes. We owe you a debt of tremendous gratitude, sir, for the work that you and your organization do. It's called Purple Heart Homes. Their website is PHHUSA.org, PHHUSA.org. If you would like to volunteer at a project, get in touch with Purple Heart homes. If you would like to invest in the future of this country as a partner, as a sponsor, get in touch with USA dot org. They need you. They need your help, they need your organization, they need your funds, they need your labor to continue to do the great work that they've accomplished. Thus far, 750 homes and growing have been improved. 750 veteran’s lives have been improved since 2008 by the work of this man and his organization. So, reach out and help if you can. John, thank you again. So much for your service and commitment to our veterans. Thank you, Tom. We do it all over again. Our veterans and our communities are worth as.