VISTA, Calif. — Active-duty Marines made repairs to a Wounded Warriors home in Vista Friday with newly learned trade skills. As CBS 8 learned, it came as these Camp Pendleton Marines have been preparing for their transition to civilian life.
Power drills, skill saws, and good, old-fashioned hammers were just some of the tools used by about a dozen Marines to make improvements at 1401 York Drive.
“We’re doing a railing for the front porch,” said logistics officer Kevin Hanratty, who has spent 25 years in the Marine Corps. “This is a great, immediate reward for what we’re doing here. We know it’s directly impacting someone that we care about, so it’s awesome.”
The service members added a railing to the front porch of an ADU in the rear of the property, in addition to handrails going up concrete steps to the main house, where five military veterans currently live.
“We always need work on the houses, always,” said Steve Roseberry, co-founder of Wounded Warrior Homes, a nonprofit with the mission of helping unhoused veterans get off the street.
“The stairs have probably been there for three years, no handrail,” said Roseberry. “A lot of the veterans, their bodies are kind of beaten up somewhat, and they have a hard time getting up or being stable on their feet sometimes.”
The group of Marines have been learning new trade skills in a 12-week program with the Home Builders Institute, which is helping them to pursue a new career path as they prepare to transition out of the military. In the intensive program, they’re taught carpentry, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing trade skills.
“This gives them an opportunity to take the training they’ve learned in the classroom and put it practically,” said Nina Ridgley, Regional Development Coordinator for Home Builders Institute. “It gives them hands-on training. They see a problem, they get to trouble shoot it, fix it, and then at the end of the day, they get to see what they actually learned and put it to use.”
“I learned how to use some power tools, I learned how to measure stuff correctly, cut it correctly,” said 4-year Marine Alejandra Alvarado, who will soon be entering civilian life.
“Getting out of the military, your biggest fear is, ‘What am I going to do? Where am I going to live? How is life going to be after transitioning out?’” said Alvarado. “So being here and being able to build homes for these veterans that are homeless, they’re one of us so we’re helping our own.”
WATCH RELATED: San Diego Padres visit Wounded Warriors, Navy Gold Star families at Naval Medical Center San Diego