Hope, Renewal and Revitalization for Denver Veteran

Feb 7, 2013 11:00 AM ET

Earlier this week, Foundation Field Manager, Sherry Caraway spent a couple days in Denver meeting with our nonprofit partner, Volunteers of America Colorado. She had the wonderful opportunity to follow up with Frank Noble, a seventy-seven year old Korean War Veteran that was the recipient of a Team Depot home renovation in October. Sherry shares her experience below.

“Seeing how Frank can now move around his home with ease and comfort and how lovely it still looked several months after the Celebration of Service October project was both inspiring and exciting. According to Frank, he’s also able to do something that he really loves, which is to cook a "pot of beans or greens" in his new kitchen.

Thanks to the continual visits by Volunteers of America Colorado and our local Home Depot stores, I wasn’t surprised to see Frank's home in such great shape.

What I did not expect was that the Frank we visited this week was totally different than the Frank we met last October.The best way to explain it is that last year's Frank was reserved, a bit un-kempt, and appeared to have given up on life after losing his mother the previous year. The Frank we visited this week had a special glow about him that was simply not there several months ago.

Frank now talks proudly of his home, his life, and his time in the Army. He's chatty and jokes a lot. He's already planning fishing trips, renewing a hobby which he hasn’t participated in in years. And when we were leaving, Frank offered generous hugs (for the ladies) and said he loved having visitors.

I only wish that every Home Depot associate and manager involved in that COS project could see that not only did they repair his home, they also gave Frank an entire new outlook on life: one of personal Hope, Renewal, and Revitalization.”

- Sherry Caraway, The Home Depot Foundation Field Manager – Western Division

To learn more about The Home Depot Foundation, visit our website.