That first yes became the seed of Operation Finally Home— a simple act of compassion that grew into one of the nation’s leading organizations dedicated to giving America’s heroes what they deserve most: a safe, stable place to call home.
In the beginning, Operation Finally Home didn't even have its iconic name.
“We started out calling ourselves the Bay Area Builders Association Support Our Troops,” Dan explains. “We weren’t even a 501(c)(3). We’d see a need, and as builders, the easiest thing we could do was build homes.”
They built one. Then another. Then another .
“I just felt like we needed to do one more,” he says. “We did four or five in a row before we were even an official nonprofit.” The turning point came when the team emailed the National Association of Home Builders asking if they could have a small booth at the International Builders’ Show. “We got an email back that said, ‘Hey, we’ve been hearing about what you guys are doing. We’d love for y’all to come out and be part of our opening ceremony. And we’re going to give you a booth.’” The response was overwhelming. “That’s when I knew this was bigger than us,” Dan says. “We realized we needed a new name if we were going to take this across the nation. That’s when we became Operation Finally Home.”
18 VETERANS TRIBUTE EDITION
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker