FREMONT, Neb (KMTV) — On Thursday, Art Johnson’s Fremont home looked like a scene straight out of Extreme Home Makeover.
“After six months of service I went to Vietnam. I worked in helicopter supply, started off in Pleiku, that’s in the upper highlands. It wasn’t a very secure area we got shot at a lot up there,” said Vietnam veteran Art Johnson.
His living room was packed with volunteers, giving every inch of the Vietnam veteran’s home a fresh coat of paint.
“We have lived here for almost 50 years and the walls were basically what they were when we moved in. The front porch was almost impossible to get out of the front door,” said Johnson.
The work being done on Johnson’s home came courtesy of Rebuilding Together Platte Valley East, a non-profit dedicated to providing critical home repairs and renovations for low-income home owners, as well as the Home Depot Foundation which provided all of the volunteers and materials for Thursday’s renovations.
“We pay for the whole thing, in this case Home Depot is paying for the whole thing. It really helps them out, it helps them stay in their homes. In certain cases people otherwise would have to start looking at elder facilities and this allows them to stay in their homes,” said Kirk Brown with Rebuilding Together Platte Valley East.
But it wasn’t just Johnson’s home getting some much needed TLC, just a few blocks away, Julie Anderson was surprising her dad, retired Marine and fellow Vietnam veteran Jim Rickard with some renovations of his own.
“I did not tell him for about two weeks, but I did tell his sister in case I needed someone to bully him into it. Because if he knew ahead of time he would try to do something like… climb a ladder again,” said Anderson.
“I lose my equilibrium once in a while, it got to the point where me and ladders don’t get along no more,” joked Rickard.
Altogether, volunteers helped repaint interiors and exteriors, replaced trim, landscaped, and even replaced Johnson’s front deck.
The work wasn’t just a thank you to two men who stepped up to serve their country, the projects will help keep both families in their home for years to come.
“The leaders of the renovation have been nothing but really nice to us. Everyone that’s worked here has been unbielevably talented,” said Johnson.
“They are helping out and doing a fantastic job and saving me a little bit of work. This stuff has been long waiting for. Either I needed to get ready to do it again or get this help to get it done,” said Rickard.
