NC Gold Star Family Closer to Owning a Home With Help of Local Home Builders Association

Staff Sgt. Juantrea T. Bradley, 28, of Greenville, N.C., died on March 12, 2008, in Tallil, Iraq serving Serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He received many awards and decorations for his dedication and service, including a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Now, thanks to Operation: Coming Home (OCH), a program created in 2007 by a group of local veterans and members from the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County, in N.C., to serve severely wounded veterans, Bradley's family—his wife, Ava Lanette Bradley, and three sons and daughter—is one step closer to achieving the American Dream of homeownership. 

The Bradley family is the 27th recipient of an OCH Hero Home. 

Earlier this year, Bradley thought she was invited to attend an initial meeting at a model home with a builder and developer as part of the application process for OCH. When the family arrived at the model home, to their surprise they learned they were selected as this year’s recipient. On Oct. 6, OCH held a “Sign the Studs” event to mark the halfway point of the new build.

“For us, it’s really special,” said Alaina Money-Garman, Garman Homes CEO, the home builder for the Bradley family. “To be able to build a home for another woman to have a woman own company building for a widow of a fallen soldier is really special for all of us.”

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