After being critically injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004, Master Sergeant Juanita Wilson faced a series of immeasurable losses, including her right arm and her sense of hope for the future. She was unsure where to turn for help until she encountered Semper Fi & America’s Fund while receiving additional treatment for her combat injuries in 2014.
“After being in touch with Stephanie [my case manager], my life began to gain some type of reassurance and balance,” she said. “Over the next several years (now a decade), The Fund has been a blessing to my girls and me.”
Through our partnership with The Home Depot Foundation The Fund was able to ensure Juanita and her family have a safe and accessible place to call home. Over the years, The Home Depot Foundation provided grants for a snow blower, home repairs, an outdoor gazebo, a landscaping project with Team Depot volunteers, a boiler replacement, a home generator to charge Juanita’s prosthetic arm during power outages, and smart home appliances that fit her needs as an amputee as well as further her independence and well-being.
“There are simply no other organizations that are providing the care, love, and support The Fund does. They have seen us through some really, really hard times … My children and I would’ve had a much greater hardship without the love and support of The Fund.”
With help from The Fund, Juanita is now pursuing degrees in psychology and life coaching. The Fund’s care has restored Juanita’s hope for the future, allowing her to provide for her family and giving Juanita and her daughters an irreplaceable community in times of need.
“I can’t describe what The Fund means to me because it is indescribable … When you have a need, it’s hard to ask for help already. The Fund makes me feel like a dignified human, and not a burden or ‘less than’ while helping. The Fund does what it says, and to be honest, it does more than it says … The Fund has lifted me in so many areas and at so many different times in my life.”