Strike Force gives back to the Community, Builds Home for Family

Written by Spc. Shawn Denham
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) PAO

Hopkinsville, KY – On a cold Saturday morning, Soldiers gathered together to help a family in need of assistance. With tools in hand, they began to erect the walls on a concrete foundation for a house, which will one day become a home.

Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), worked with Habitat for Humanity to construct a house for a family in need, in Hopkinsville, KY, December 10th.

This volunteer opportunity was a way for Soldiers to give back to the communities that support Fort Campbell, said 2nd Lt. Mark Patton, an officer who helped coordinate the project with Strike Force.

“We’re bringing Soldiers out from the battalion that wanted to volunteer and help put up the Habitat for Humanity house,” said Patton. “When I went to them for opportunities to volunteer, they were just in the beginning stages of the house.”

The project began with cleaning up a piece of land nestled in a residential section in downtown Hopkinsville. Debris was cleared and a foundation laid down to provide the basis for a house. On December 10th, the first walls were erected to begin the process of construction.

On December 3rd, a group of 12 Soldiers came out to install floor beams and joists, said Patton.

“It’s great to see Soldiers come out and volunteer,” said Patton. “Especially since they come out of field training and still want to help out here.”

The project will benefit a family trying to overcome medical issues and housing problems, said Jessie Quarles, executive director of the Habitat for Humanity, Hopkinsville branch.

“It’s for a young man who is a very sick,” said Quarles. “We are trying to do the best we can to give him a home that’s healthier and safer than the one he was in.”

Trevin Bell, a teacher and Hopkinsville local and his family were forced to move out of their residence due to mold, rotting floors and other severe conditions. While dealing with those conditions, Bell has also been fighting heart conditions which have caused him to be placed first on the Kentucky Organ Transplant list to receive a donated heart.

“I think it is great to have Soldiers helping work on the house,” said Bell. “[The Soldiers] take their own time to do something like this; it’s awesome and I really appreciate it. I can’t explain how much this will improve my family’s life.”

Previous heart complications and sickness had required hospitalization from October until late November, Bell said.

“I was in the hospital for almost two months,” Bell said. “I didn’t get to make it home for Thanksgiving.”

Habitat for Humanity stepped in to offer Bell and his family assistance and provided a better place for them to live. For the Soldiers volunteering at the site, this aid was their mission and purpose to be here.

“I came to help build a house for someone,” said Pvt. 1st Class Shammah Nasheed, with Company B, 2-502nd. “If it was my family in that position, I would want help if we needed it.”

This was the first time being on site and a new experience, said Nasheed.

“I have never built a house before but this is pretty fun,” said Nasheed.

Partnering with Habitat for Humanity is just one of several volunteer efforts the Soldiers of Strike Force are working on and future selfless acts are scheduled as Strike Force continues to give back to the surrounding communities.

“We have some Soldiers volunteering to work at a soup kitchen in a couple of weeks,” Patton said. “It’s really great to see Soldiers come out and volunteer and give time away from their Saturdays; it’s pretty amazing.”