GARNER, N.C. — After months of anticipation, Army veteran Eddy Kim and his family are preparing to move into their new wheelchair-accessible home in Garner this November.
Kim served 11 years in the Army, but during a training exercise at Fort Bragg last December, he was left paralyzed from the mid-chest down. He fractured his C6 and C7 vertebrae as well as his T3 and T4 vertebrae.
Despite his injures he is thankful for all those who have helped him along the way.
Making this mortgage-free home possible is Raleigh-based nonprofit U.S. Veterans Corps, Mungo Homes and Operation Coming Home.
“To step up to something this big, I think is huge,” Kim explained. “You know, just having a nice master bedroom and shower. I think that that kind of gets me going already.”
The gift is part of a larger national effort to reduce veteran homelessness. According to the Veterans Affairs’ 2024 Point-in-Time count, 32,882 veterans experienced homelessness on a single night in January, a 7.5% decrease compared to the year before.
In Mecklenburg County, 127 veterans experienced some form of homelessness last year. In Wake County, 61 veterans were counted this year, most living in emergency shelters.
From the Kims, the gift of this house is priceless.
“If I do want a viewer to take anything away, is the importance of community. Having people support you and you support them,” Kim said.
Kim’s wife, Youngyoon, says the home means her husband can now focus more on his recovery without the added stress of finding accessible housing.
This will be the 29th home built as part of the project. The Kims are expected to receive their keys in November.
