67 F
The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Villagers for Veterans celebrates groundbreaking of ‘smart’ home for disabled vet

A yearlong effort to build a “smart” house in The Villages for a disabled Army veteran took a huge leap forward Friday with an official groundbreaking ceremony.

A crowd of area residents joined Villagers for Veterans on Thursday to celebrate the groundbreaking event for a ‘smart’ home for disabled Army veteran Pam Kelly.

Villagers for Veterans, led by founder and president Marie Bogdonoff, has worked tirelessly over the past year to raise money to build the house for Sgt. Pam Kelly, a 17-year Army veteran who was injured while training for deployment to Iraq.

Kelly’s spine was crushed when a cable snapped during a sling load operation. And as a result of her injuries, the Army medic, who lives alone in the Tampa area, was permanently paralyzed and has very limited use of one arm.

On Friday, as shovels full of dirt were being tossed in the ceremony at the vacant lot on Teakwood Lane in the Village of Orange Blossom Gardens, Kelly took a moment to reflect on the past year and the fact that she will most likely be a Villager sometime this spring.

“It’s enormous,” she said. “It’s gratitude. It’s grateful. It’s a blessing. It’s a godsend that this is happening and I have Marie in my life.”

Villager Irving Locker, 94, who participated in D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, shares a special moment with Sgt. Pam Kelly during Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony for her new ‘smart’ house in the Historic Section of The Villages.

Bogdonoff said she’s extremely thankful to Villagers and others who have made donations to Villagers for Veterans to make Kelly’s home a reality. She said the organization, which started five years ago with the goal of providing greater mobility and independence to veterans who had lost limbs and their ability to move, has raised enough money in just one year to pay for two-thirds of Kelly’s house.

The ceremonial shovels that were used for the groundbreaking for Sgt. Pam Kelly’s new home, including the Army shovel 94-year-old Villager Irving Locker carried in D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.

So with more fundraisers coming in the near future – see Villagersforveterans.org for information – and some donations of products needed to build the home, Bogdonoff said they felt very comfortable moving ahead with construction, which will begin this month and hopefully be completed by April or May.

“I always said The Villages is not for everybody but for some people, it’s the best place,” Bogdonoff said. “When Pam comes here, she’s so happy. She can go everywhere in her wheelchair. She can’t do that anyplace else. So we said, ‘This is a place for you.’”

Bogdonoff recalled her first few encounters with Kelly and how quiet and reserved she was. But she said she started to open up as they continued to invite her to the community for visits. And when efforts to get her a house built by other organizations fell through because Kelly wasn’t a combat veteran, Bogdonoff said members of Villagers for Veterans knew it was time to take matters into their own hands.

Marie Bogdonoff, of Villagers for Veterans, and Sgt. Pam Kelly are all smiles as they talk about the new ‘smart’ home being built for the disabled veteran in The Villages.

“I said, ‘This is The Villages. We can do it here,’” she said. “We presented it to the board and everybody loved the idea. So we kicked it off in January and here we are a year later.”

For her part, Kelly, who recently participated in a flightless Villages Honor Flight, said she can hardly wait to become a resident of the Historic Side of Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.

“It’s going to be exciting,” she said. “The Villages people are going to have to be prepared for a tornado to come in because I’m ready,” she added with a huge smile.

Sgt. Pam Kelly shows her appreciation to Marie Bogdonoff on Thursday during the groundbreaking ceremony for her new home in the Village of Orange Blossoms Gardens. Bogdonoff is the founder and president and Villagers for Veterans, which has spent the past year raising the money to build the new ‘smart’ home for the disabled Army veteran.

As for her feelings for Kelly, Bogdonoff said it’s been a very special year as they have become extremely close while working on the project together.

“One of the nice things that we have in Villagers for Veterans is that those veterans that we help, we stay in touch with. They become part of our family,” Bogdonoff said. “Pam hasn’t only become part of the Villagers for Veterans family, she has become part of my own personal family.”

The Villages Twirlers and Drum Corps, led by Captain Ann Pelle, perform at Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony for Sgt. Pam Kelly’s new home.

When asked about Bogdonoff and everything she and Villagers for Veterans have done this past year, Kelly looked away and wiped away tears.

“I’m not a crier; I’m a soldier,” she said. “But when it comes to Marie, she’s the family I never had.”

Friday’s event also included an appearance by 94-year-old Irving Locker, a resident of the Village of Santiago and Army veteran who participated in D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge. And John “Capt. Woody” Woodall emceed the event, coming all the way from Fairmont, N.C., where he serves as president and founder of Camp for Heroes. Woodall is good friends with actor Gary Sinise and will be back in The Villages in February when the actor and veterans advocate signs copies of his new book as a guest of Villagers for Veterans.

John “Capt. Woody” Woodall, who emceed the groundbreaking event Friday and is the president and founder of Camp for Heroes, sings ‘America the Beautiful.’
Disabled Army Sgt. Pam Kelly poses with Ann Pelle, captain of The Villages Twirlers and Drum Corps.

“This is awesome,” said Woodall, who originally introduced Kelly to Bogdonoff. “Pam is a wonderful lady. She sacrificed a lot and I really feel it’s the least we can do to give back to her and to do what we can do to make her life more comfortable.”

Ann Pelle, captain of The Villages Twirlers and Drum Corps, agreed. She called Kelly a hero and thanked for her for service. And she said it was personally important for her to team to perform because they are huge supporters of veterans and she has several family members – her father, husband Mike, son Sean Crittenden and son-in-law John Vebrnick – who have served in the military.

“I think it’s awesome that Villagers have all come together to give a hero a home,” she said. “So anything that we can do as a team to support that, we’re going to be out there for it. Pam is a hero to us and we want to support our heroes.”

Disabled Army Sgt. Pam Kelly, whose spine was crushed in a training accident as she prepared to deploy to Iraq, said Friday was a special day in her life as she attended the groundbreaking ceremony for her new ‘smart’ home that’s being built in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown through the efforts of Marie Bogdonoff and Villagers for Veterans.

Our amenities are being used by families with kids

In a Letter to the Editor, a Village of Citrus Grove resident says she is not happy about families with kids using amenities paid for by residents.

Finally allocating funds to the golf courses!

A Village of Hadley resident said he is happy that more money is being allocated to the golf courses. Read his Letter to the Editor.

Trump is unfit for any office

A Village of Osceola Hills resident, in a Letter to the Editor, details why he thinks former President Trump is unfit to hold any office.

I don’t think the original Developer saw this coming

A resident of the Village of St. Charles offers his thoughts on deed compliance and the original Developer of The Villages.

Proudly fly the flag in honor of my father’s Navy service

A Village of St. Johns resident, in a Letter to the Editor, says she proudly displays the U.S. Navy flag in honor of her father.