First Lady Helping Construct Homes for Veterans
First lady Michelle Obama will be joining the crew of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and a North Carolina non-profit to help build a boarding house for homeless female veterans.
Obama will be working with the team from the ABC television show on Thursday, according to the White House.
The building project will benefit the women of the Steps & Stages Jubilee House in Fayetteville. Several families will be able to live in the new two-story house, which will include a resource center, according to the Associated Press.
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Barbara Marshall, a 15-year Navy veteran, spearheads Steps & Stages, Inc., a non-profit that provides transitional housing and permanent housing for women veterans.
Women veterans will be about 10 percent of the Veteran population by 2020, according to the Office of Veterans Affairs.
The first lady is participating in the project as part of Joining Forces, a program that supports service members and their families.
Construction workers and volunteers have been working on the Steps & Stages Jubilee House project since July 14, according to The Fayetteville Observer.
“We never really hear about the hardship of women veterans,”
George Verschoor, executive producer for the show, commended Marshall and her group for the work that they do to help women veterans.
“We never really hear about the hardship of women veterans. This project has put things in a completely different perspective for us,” he told The Fayetteville Observer. “It really highlights the need for all of us to help care for our servicemen and women.”
“The Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is a reality show that helps families and community groups across the United States who need building projects, homes, and other facilities that they would not otherwise be able to afford.
Local businesses and the general community are usually brought on to help with the project. The show, on for several seasons, is hosted by former model and carpenter Ty Pennington.
The “Extreme Makeover” episode featuring the first lady will air in October.
