As we approach Veterans Day, I want to share a couple of recent volunteer projects that brightened the lives of Pikes Peak region military families.

Most recently, Andy Clark of Monument, a disabled and retired

Air Force combat veteran, had his backyard made over thanks to the Home Depot Foundation and the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 50 in Colorado Springs.

In his 10 years of service in the Air

Force, Clark was deployed to combat zones in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, among other places. Injuries Clark sustained during his final tour in Afghanistan left him permanently disabled.

Clark came home to a backyard he didn’t even want to lay eyes on, as it resembled the barren desert landscape he’d just escaped in the Middle East, bringing back terrible memories. But because he was disabled, Clark couldn’t fix the yard by himself.

Enter the DAV and a dedicated manager at the Monument Home Depot. In response to a request a couple of years ago from Clark’s mother (herself a military wife), Home Depot manager Susan Jones made a plan to help.

Jones is captain of the store’s arm of the Team Depot Foundation, which funds grants to pay for projects to assist local disabled veterans. These projects help the veterans at home, and may include landscaping and home renovation projects.

Although COVID delayed the outreach for a long time, Jones kept Clark and his yard at the top of her mind.

In September, with volunteer labor provided by Air Force Academy cadets, as well as veterans and active Air Force members, Clark’s backyard landscaping project became a reality. And last week came the cherry on top, when Clark received a new Tuff Shed for his new yard from the store as a donation, sponsored by the DAV Chapter 50.

Clark’s father — a 24-year veteran of the Air Force, his sister, wife and children also pitched in on the yard upgrade.

Clark told sister paper The Tribune last week, “I can’t put into words how much it makes me feel that what I’ve done was appreciated. Sometimes, it feels like you’re a number and then they drop you. There just aren’t enough support systems out there for veterans, and there aren’t going to be. It’s that simple.

Another group volunteer effort came about when some local Army Rangers recently stepped up to beautify the surroundings of a Gold Star Mother who lost her son in combat.

Domeij, who lives in Colorado Springs, is the mother of Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer B. Domeij, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2011. Her son, at only 29, had had 14 deployments and was at the time of his death the most deployed soldier in American history to be killed in action.

Scoti Domeij got very sick with COVID last year and was unable to keep up with maintenance on her home. The weeds in her yard grew to chest high and the property fell into disrepair.

Her friend Mike Holcomb, an Army Ranger, offered to help and called upon some of his Ranger buddies to pitch in. Those friends included another Ranger, Jeremy Ferranti, who used his connections as a mentor of veterans to get more than $60,000 of labor costs at Scoti’s house done for free, and set up a Gofundme page to help offset $30,000 costs for the project.

Thanks to a number of tireless volunteers, the work at Scoti’s home was completed in under two weeks.

“When situations like this come up, we call on each other,” Ferranti told The Tribune in September.

Domeij said she cannot thank the volunteers enough.

Clark summed up what makes the work done at his home so meaningful: “We’ve been at war for the last 23 years and there’s just too many vets. The system is overwhelmed. It’s not the system’s fault, but it’s not the vets’ fault either. It really touches my soul to know people really care. As somebody who has been on the brink of death, it gives you something to look forward to.”

Clark and Domeij are among innumerable veterans who have greatly sacrificed so that we may be free. Please keep them and all of our veterans in your hearts this Veterans Day and always.