Metropolitan Builders Association

Wall-to-wall love

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The house won’t be completed until May 2018. There is still much to be done. The exterior finishes are complete, but the interior is roughed-in with framed-in rooms and exposed beams. It was the ideal canvas for friends, families, members of the community and all those involved in the latest Operation FINALLY HOME project to pen warm wishes and gratitude to U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Mario “Joe” Davis, his wife, Carrissa and their family. The countless heartfelt messages will remain forever sealed in the finished walls of their new home. Notes of Love may be the most emotional of the four stages of an OFH project.

It was a small gathering on a Saturday afternoon in fall. Joe, Carrissa and their children quietly walked through the house reading the messages and on that day, it felt like home. “Notes of Love will surround and embrace the Davises with loving wishes for their hopes and dreams,” said Kristine Hillmer, executive director of the Metropolitan Builders Association.

Pastor Brian Engl blessed the house. “We hope these messages help you get through the difficult times,” he said. “Love is what changes a house into a home.”

Operation Finally Home worked with Veterans Administration caseworkers and chose Davis, a veteran who served in Afghanistan and twice in Iraq, to receive a new 4-bedroom mortgage-free home in Waukesha. The home is being built through the tireless efforts of David Belman of Belman Homes, The Metropolitan Builders Association, countless volunteers, trades people, vendor contributions and community donations. “It has been an honor to build your home,” Belman told the Davises. “You exemplify an Operation FINALLY HOME family.

The unfinished interior walls were covered with children’s artwork from many local schools, including Mount Calvary Lutheran School where two of the Davis children attend. “There were so many notes from those who couldn’t get here; we couldn’t fit them all on the walls,” Belman said. Written on the beams above each doorway of the Davis children’s bedroom were their names: Braxton, Kolton and Grace.

On a wall in what will be Joe’s and Carrissa’s bedroom were dozens of notes from Elkhart -- a small town in Kansas where Joe grew up. “This is so amazing,” Joe said. “All those who took time to write -- friends and their kids. There’s a note from my T-ball coach.”

The lot, that was donated by Belman Homes, is on a hill surrounded by woods.  “We will make sure the driveway directly adjacent to the garage is flat,” Belman said. “We want the home to be very functional and accessible to meet Joe’s needs now and in the future.”

In 2009, as Davis was preparing for what would be his third and final deployment he began to show signs of loss of balance, strength, and movement on his left side. At just 28-years-old, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which doctors believe was a direct result of the traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder he endured while in service. He medically retired in 2013 after 11 years of service.

The ranch-style home eliminates stairs, will have a treatment room, barrier-free showers and wide doorways to accommodate a wheelchair.

This is the fourth OFH project built in Wisconsin. There are plans for a fifth home. “But we like to focus on one home and one family at a time,” Hillmer said. The Fotsch Family Foundation has offered another $150,000 matching grant for the next OFH project. It will be another Belman home as Belman and his staff coordinate fundraisers, vendors, trades people and community support to build another home for a deserving veteran.

For more information on how to get involved, visit http://ofhwisconsin.com/