A member of the 2nd AAV in Camp Lejeune, N.C., Sgt. Roberts served three tours of duty in Iraq. During his last tour, he was injured by an improvised exploding device (IED) blast into his amphibious assault vehicle (AAV). This blast resulted in the loss of Sgt. Roberts’ right leg, injuries to his right arm and traumatic brain injury.
Rich Van Tassel, president of Royal Oaks Building Group, LLC, announced that the company is building and donating the new home in its Southern Oaks community in Fuquay-Varina during a groundbreaking ceremony held at the site on Thursday. The home site is being donated by neighborhood developer Gaines and Company. Operation: Coming Home is a joint volunteer project led by the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County (HBARWC) and the Triangle Real Estate and Construction Veterans (TREACV) that builds and donates homes for disabled combat veterans.
In October of 2008, Royal Oaks Building Group co-built and donated a home to veteran Joey Bozik, the project’s first recipient, a sergeant in the 16th Military Police Brigade based at Fort Bragg who was injured in 2004 when his Humvee hit a bomb south of Baghdad.
Van Tassel said, “We are proud to be an integral part of Operation: Coming Home for a second time. In our opinion, this project is the least that Royal Oaks and the Triangle community can do to salute the courage and sacrifice involved in maintaining our freedom as demonstrated by Stan and his family.”
Also attending the ceremony were Fuquay-Varina Mayor John Byrne, members of the Fuquay-Varina Town Board, representatives from Operation: Coming Home sponsor companies Gaines and Company, STOCK Building Supply and the Stone Builder & Developer Marketing Group.
Tim Minton, executive officer of HBA Raleigh, said, “during these times of economic challenges that we’re facing, it is a wonderful collaboration that brings us all together. It shows a commitment to our soldiers.”
Fuquay-Varina Mayor John Byrne said, “it is an important day for Fuquay-Varina.”
One of the goals of Operation: Coming Home is to raise funds throughout the construction of the house for the building of future homes for wounded veterans. A sponsorship drive is currently under way. Operation: Coming Home wrist bands can be purchased for $1.00 from the Homebuilders Association of Raleigh/Wake County. Donations may be made at www.operationcominghome.com.
There has been such support for the project that Van Tassel said, “I’m very confident there will be a third house and beyond.”
Jason McCoy, president of TREACV, spoke at the groundbreaking. He said, “your freedom is purchased for a price,” and Sgt. Roberts has paid for that freedom with his great personal sacrifice for all of us.
Roberts also spoke, thanking those attending for their support. “I love my country. If I had to do it all over again I would do nothing different,” he said.
Accepting the new home is something he said he can do for his family. Once construction on the home is completed, it will be available for public viewing as a part of the 2010 Wake County Parade of Homes on Oct. 2-3, 8-10 and 15-17. Sgt. Roberts and his wife reside in Cary, N.C., and they plan to move in to the new home after a welcome home celebration on Nov. 4.
ABOUT ROYAL OAKS BUILDING GROUP, LLC:
Royal Oaks Building Group, LLC builds homes throughout Raleigh, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Wake Forest, Cary, Apex and Angier. Locally owned and operated, the company focuses on quality of design, construction and customer service, offering a portfolio of plans and a wide selection of standard features from which to choose in price ranges from starters to multimillion-dollar luxury homes. Royal Oaks is a member of the Raleigh-Wake County Home Builders Association and has received multiple gold and silver awards from the HBA Parade of Homes. In 2008 and 2010, the company received the highly coveted Major Achievements in Marketing Excellence (MAME) Building Company of the Year Award, and in 2008 its president, Rich Van Tassel, was named a recipient of the Builder of the Year Award presented by the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County (HBA). Additional company awards include the Triangle Business Journal’s Fast 50 Award for three consecutive years and the Small Business of the Year by the Apex Chamber of Commerce, as well as consistent listings in the Triangle Business Journal’s premier list of residential builders, based annually by volume in the Raleigh-Durham market. Royal Oaks is proud that a house it built in Fuquay-Varina as part of Operation Coming Home, a project whose mission is to provide injured war veterans with free houses with donated material and labor, won the HBA the Best Community Spirit in the Nation Award in 2010 from the Nationals, America’s largest competition for new home sales and marketing professionals and communities. For more information, visit www.royaloaksbg.com.
Post a Comment
