U.S. Army Sgt. Jeffrey Adams has sacrificed a great deal while serving his country. Adams spent all of 2007 deployed to Bagdad, Iraq; and, in 2009, he began his second deployment, this time in Afghanistan. The last stint changed his life.In August 2009, Adams was returning to base from the Pesh River Valley when his MRAP vehicle (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) made contact with a pressure-plated improvised explosive device. Immediately, Adams was transported to a hospital in Bagram, where surgeons amputated his right leg. Adams was later transported to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where they determined his left leg would also have to be amputated. Adams received treatments and therapy at Walter Reed for 13 months before returning to Colorado.”When I first got hurt, I asked how long it would be to recuperate and they said a year and a half, so I actually got out sooner than expected,” Adams said. “It was by choice though, I didn’t want to be at Walter Reed forever.”While recuperating at Walter Reed, Adams met another soldier who was receiving help from Homes for Our Troops, an organization that helps build specially designed homes for severely injured veterans.Adams applied for Homes for Our Troops in February 2010. “By May, we were at a conference in Boston, where they break down the entire process and how the organization works and get us prepared for the next phase,” he said.The house, which is being built near Elbert, Colo., will be an asset to Adams and daughter Julie and fiancÈ Shelley Targett. Before his deployment, Adams was living in a second floor apartment, which didn’t allow for the freedom of movement he needed after he returned from Walter Reed. Adams is currently in a house but still faces similar challenges. “I still have a lot of the same problems I had at the apartment,” he said. “I’ve got stairs here all over the place, an uneven yard, so it’s kind of a pain to get around sometimes. The new house is going to have extra-wide doors, so I can fly right through them, and a wider layout so I’m not running into couches and things like that.””This project has been amazing,” said Dawn Teixeira, executive director of Homes for Our Troops. Teixeira said she believes the home is on track for a “key” ceremony in June. The organization builds 30 to 35 homes per year, she said. Adams’ home is the seventh built for veterans in Colorado, and an eighth home is scheduled to be built later this year in Elizabeth, Colo.Adams is greatly appreciative of all the volunteers and businesses that have helped with the building of his home. “I was out at the house, and everybody out there was shaking my hand and thanking me,” he said. “And I wanted to thank them, and they were like ‘no, no, no.’ Everybody was really awesome, and I just want to thank everyone that pitched in to do this for me.”The next opportunity to volunteer to help with Adams’ home is in June. The date will be posted on his Web site. Volunteers will complete the landscaping, and clean and prep Adams’ home for the “key” ceremony. For more information on how to volunteer or donate to the project, visit Adams’ Web site at http://homesforourtroops.org/adams.
