‘I think it’s really great’

BY DAVE SUTOR

DSUTOR@TRIBDEM.COM

Cara Sweeney is expecting two positive life-changing events to occur around the beginning ofnext year.

Her second child is due in January.

And she plans to be living in the first home she has ever owned by then.

Sweeney will be moving into the house thanks to efforts by a group of local veterans and Allegheny County-based Hosanna Industries.

Earlier this year, she applied to get a soon-to-be-constructed new house through the Polacek Veteran Home Initiative, a project consisting of Vision Together 2025, Hosanna and the area veterans community. Sweeney was a finalist, but was ultimately not selected.

However, shortly after the winner was announced, the owner of a home on Boyer Street in Johnstown’s Coopersdale neighborhood offered to donate the property to a veteran. The veteran group then selected Sweeney to get what will be a renovated home.

On Tuesday, volunteers started gutting the structure, as part of a complete remodel by Hosanna Industries that is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

“I think it’s really great,” said Sweeney, a former member of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve. “As a single mom, it’s really difficult to find a house on your own, with a huge home loan. I saw this opportunity. Everyone in the veteran community here has been really great and helpful. I think this will be a great opportunity to

Please see HOMES, A2

Ethan Fyock, a laborer with Tri County Masonry Construction Co., of Hastings, helps lay the block foundation Tuesday during the initial construction phase of the Polacek Veteran Home Initiative build on Somerset Street in downtown Johnstown, above. Joining the Tri County Masonry Construction Co. team are Hosanna Industries crew members and local volunteers. Below left, Greater Johnstown High School boys basketball coach Ryan Durham, volunteer, applies waterproofing sealer to the exterior of the newly constructed block foundation. Below right, volunteer Ben Raybuck, of Johnstown, carries a bag of garbage as cleanup efforts start at the donated property.

PHOTOS BY THOMAS SLUSSER/ THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT

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raise my family and get them a good life.”

Retired Army Col. Jeff Pounding, who helped organize the selection process for the Polacek Veteran Home Initiative, said an “outpouring of curiosity and giving” came after the winner was announced that also included a second home being donated. That house is scheduled to be renovated in the spring.

The two remodeling projects are not connected to the Polacek Initiative or Vision Together 2025, but rather are offshoots that developed unexpectedly.

A brand-new Vision house is scheduled to be constructed by Hosanna and other volunteers during a four-day blitz build, beginning Aug. 18, on Somerset Street in Johnstown.

On Tuesday, foundation block was laid at the location.

Other work has already been done, such as putting together prefab walls offsite, installing water and sewer, and getting paperwork done.

“All of this pre-work obviously has to be done because we are doing a four-day build and that build entails taking the pre-made walls that are being done over at Helping Hands (of Cambria County Volunteer Center) and putting them up,” Vision Together 2025 Executive Director Robert Forcey said.

“It’s kind of, if you will, like an old-fashioned barn raising.”

Navy veteran Darren Hill was selected to be the recipient of the new house.

Dave Sutor is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Sutor.