Local Veteran will Receive Custom Dream Home Through Homes For Our Troops

AaronBoyleYelm, WARetired Army Sgt. Aaron Boyle of the Yelm area will receive a specially adapted home through Homes for our Troops after losing his right arm, and right leg while serving in Afghanistan in 2010.

Boyle joined the Army after graduating Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma and served his first deployment as an Infantryman in 2008. He was injured Sept. 21, 2010 after stepping on an improvised explosive device while on patrol in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan.

Homes for our Troops’ mission is to build and donate custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives.

“Homes For Our Troops is amazing, life changing,” Boyle said. “It helps amputees get back to living a normal life, not being weighed down by the restrictions and challenges.”

Boyle is medically retired but continues to stay active both in the gym and in the community. He frequently trains at the Freedom Training Center in McKenna, pursuing a career as physical fitness trainer and volunteers his time at several events held at the American Lake Golf Course. Although Boyle hasn’t let his injuries hold him back, his current home was not designed for a wheelchair, making everyday tasks burdensome.

“They only way I can get to the washer and dryer is having to stop my wheelchair and then hop with the basket of laundry,” Boyle said. “I can’t be in the kitchen with my wheelchair and have the dishwasher open or the oven open.”

Boyle lives with his wife, Lynn and his three children and loves to cook and host gatherings but the current home makes it difficult to do so. Homes for our Troops will build a home that allows better wheelchair access with an open floor plan and wide doorways, granting Aaron the ability to cook with Lynn, bathe his kids, and share the load when they host family and friends.

“It's a second chance, a chance to be able to take that burden off of us, financially and physically with the limits our house has now,” Aaron said.

The community is encouraged to attend the community kickoff 10 to 11 a.m. May 11 at the New Life Christian Center to celebrate the beginning of the project and welcome Aaron and his family to the community. For more information about the organization, or to RSVP, please visit Homes for our Troops.

“We are greatly honored that Sgt. Boyle will call Yelm home,” City Administrator Michael Grayum said. “Homes for Our Troops is an incredible organization and a valuable resource for injured heroes. As a City, we have taken great strides to improve services by creating a Veterans Resource Center so local service members, like Sgt. Boyle can get the assistance they need.”