Homes For Our Troops to build new home for Sgt. Ecker

Date: 3/30/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW -- The community has pulled together in the past to support Sgt. Mark Ecker II, a native son who was critically injured while serving in Iraq in February 2007. Now, a nationally-recognized non-profit wants to help him out as well.

Homes For Our Troops (HFOT), based in Taunton, Mass., has selected Ecker as the recipient of a brand new, specially adapted home, to be built here in his hometown.

"They [HFOT] called me and let me know about [what they do]," Ecker told Reminder Publications. He said he and his father attended an information session in Taunton before he applied for the opportunity to have a new home built for him.

After Ecker was released from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., he moved to Colorado to stay close to his friends from his Army unit. Once he and his "Army buddies" went their separate ways, Ecker found himself visiting his family in East Longmeadow more and more often, so he decided to move back home.

He currently rents a two-story home, according to his mother, Deb. "He mostly lives on the first floor, but there are a few stairs. If his prosthetics are working properly, which they usually do, there's no problem, but if they act up ... There's no accessibility in a wheelchair in his current home."

Vicki Thomas, media relations for HFOT, said each home built by the organization is designed specifically for the injured soldier.

"In the first five years, we built 37 houses," Thomas said. "This year alone we will be building 35." She noted that Ecker's new home will be the fourth built by HFOT in the Commonwealth and the first in Western Massachusetts.

However, work cannot begin on Ecker's new home until land has been set aside and all the funds are raised for the project.

Board of Selectmen Chair Jim Driscoll is aiming to settle the land issue for Ecker. He has placed an article on the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting that would permit the town to donate land on Arch Street, off of Westwood Avenue, for the injured soldier's home.

"I put it on the warrant because I've been involved with Homes For Our Troops," Driscoll said. "They are a great group of people and I know the biggest obstacle is finding land."

"Homes For Our Troops is also looking for people to provide donations, labor, time and materials," Deb explained.

An official registration day for those interested in helping Ecker and HFOT build a new home will take place April 8 from 1 to 8 p.m. at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. Dawn Currier, an East Longmeadow resident and an agent with Keller Williams Realty, is working on spreading the word about this effort.

"Mark is so deserving of this house," Currier said. "Everyone can help. This town is full of wonderful, great people."

People can make monetary donations or provide services or materials for the actual building. Services still needed include a general contractor, ADA-compliant safety accessories, an architect, brick and mortar, concrete, counter tops, driveway installation, driveway materials, drywall work, dumpster/disposal services, electrical labor, electrical supplies, engineering, exterior doors, exterior millwork, flooring, general labor, gutters, heating system, HVAC, interior doors and millwork, kitchen and bath cabinets, kitchen and batch fixtures, landscaping and landscaping materials, lighting, lumber, miscellaneous rental equipment, paint, painting, plumbing materials and labor, portable toilet, roof trusses, insulation and garage doors, roofing materials and installation, septic system and installation, sheetrock, site work and excavation, storm shutters, a title closing attorney, title insurance and window treatments and installation.

"It was a little overwhelming at first [to know I was getting a new home]," Ecker said, "to know this is for me. I felt a little guilty about accepting it at first, but I'm really excited about getting a new home."

For more information about HFOT or to donate funds or services online, visit www.homesforourtroops.org.