Borough plans to donate property for house for wounded 23-year-old
WHARTON -- When Army Spc. James
"Jimmy"Benoit is ready to leave Walter Reed Army Medical Center in
Washington, D.C., town officials want him to return to his hometown
in style.
The borough council plans to donate vacant property on Eileen
Court for a handicapped-accessible home for the 23-year-old Benoit.
Benoit has spent the past six months at Walter Reed, undergoing
77 operations to repair wounds that he suffered in a Sept. 8, 2005,
roadside bomb attack in Iraq. Benoit's backside was severely injured
when the bomb reduced to rubble the 9,000-pound armored Humvee he
was driving.
Belongs in Wharton
At the time, Benoit was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq,
training Iraqi police. He had just five months left before he was
scheduled to leave.
"Jimmy was in Iraq watching our back. We should be the ones watching
his," said Wharton Councilman Scott Hutchins.
"He belongs in Wharton. I want him to have a place to come home."
Benoit grew up in Wharton and is a 2001 graduate of Morris Hills
High School. His mother, Margaret "Missy" Benoit, raised him and his
two brothers in a second- and third-floor apartment of a Main Street
house. He won't be able to return to the apartment, since his
injuries will require him to use a wheelchair.
The idea of donating the borough property came to Hutchins
following a recent Daily Record report on the difficulty that Benoit
will face in returning home.
"Like everyone else, I thought there's got to be something I can
do for him, but I wasn't sure what to do," Hutchins said.
"Then I read the article and it became crystal clear what we had
to do."
The borough owns four vacant properties, including the Eileen
Court lot, which officials attempted to sell by auction previously,
but could not attract any buyers, Hutchins said.
The procedure
In order to donate the property, however, the town must turn it
over to a nonprofit organization. Hutchins contacted Homes for our
Troops, a Massachusetts-based charity that assists injured veterans
and their families with fundraising, building materials and
professional labor in building new homes or adapting existing homes
for handicapped accessibility.
Homes for our Troops agreed to take on the Benoit project, said
founder and President John Gonsalves. Fundraising to build the home
for Benoit will be handled through the charity.
Donations of money, labor or materials can be made through the
organization's Web site, http://www.homesforourtroops.org/.
In the two years since Gonsalves started the organization, it has
built or retrofitted homes for 12 veterans, he said.
Gonsalves worked in construction for 20 years and got the idea
for the charity early in the war after watching a news story about a
bomb attack that left a soldier a double amputee.
"I assumed at first there was an organization out there doing
this," Gonsalves said.
"I found out there wasn't. I was almost ashamed -- it seemed like
such an obvious need."
Closing next week
Gonsalves is scheduled to travel to Wharton next week to finalize
the property transfer. Mayor William Chegwidden said the entire
governing body agreed that this was the right use for the town-owned
land.
"This is how Wharton treats its own," Chegwidden said. "We want
Jimmy to come back to our community."
It is unclear when Benoit will be ready to return to Wharton.
Although the wounds on his backside have been closed, he continues
to face challenges. He is undergoing physical therapy and has to
re-learn basic skills.
Despite his doctors' early prognosis that he would never walk
again, Benoit is talking steps and learning how to walk. He is
working to re-learn how to dress himself, how to eat, how to sit up
and how to turn around in order to get into bed or his wheelchair.
Hutchins and Chegwidden visited Benoit and his mother at Walter
Reed last weekend and made their proposal to them. Jimmy Benoit did
not say much, Chegwidden said, but his smile told them everything
they needed to know.
Neither official had met Benoit before, but in recent weeks they
have heard stories about him from residents who knew him when he was
growing up. Hutchins said Benoit's former Boy Scout leader told of
how Benoit would tackle roadside cleanup projects like no one else.
"I was told Jimmy would have four bags filled to everyone else's
one bag," Hutchins said.
"I hope this helps in his recovery, knowing that he'll have a
place to come back to."
Mother's reaction
After the visit from the two officials, Missy Benoit couldn't
keep the tears back.
"It's such an incredible feeling to know that so many people
care," Missy Benoit said.
"I can't thank people enough. He's excited about having a home to
come back to."