Cpl. Robert Loria, 2nd from left, prepares to cut the ribbon on his new home with members of Defending Freedom Warrior Weekend and DeLand city leadership.
BEACON PHOTOS/JOE CREWS
Ready for occupancy — This home on East Georgia Avenue, originally built in 1921, was fully restored over the past year-plus so it could be donated to a combat-wounded veteran. Cpl. Bob Loria lost part of his left arm and suffered muscle damage to his left leg during the second of his tours in Iraq in 2004.
BEACON PHOTOS/JOE CREWS
Editor's note: A version of this story was posted online April 3 . The story was expanded on for the Weekend April 6-9, 2017 edition of The Beacon by Joe Crews, whose story is shown first, just below. The original web story continues further below.
It was no April Fools’ joke. A combat-wounded veteran April 1 became the proud owner of a completely refurbished home at 726 E. Georgia Ave., courtesy of the City of DeLand, Defending Freedom Warrior Weekend, and the DeLand community at large.
Commercial trades contractors played a significant role, either donating or discounting their products and services, Defending Freedom’s president said.
Cpl. Robert “Bob” Loria, the recipient of the home originally built in 1921, was a combat engineer in the U.S. Army from 1999 to 2005, serving two combat tours. He was wounded during combat in Iraq in February 2004, and medically retired the next year.
Loria survived a left-arm amputation and severe muscle damage to his left leg.
He received a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star with Valor, and commendation medals for his actions in combat.
“I’m grateful and happy to be here,” Loria said during a dedication ceremony. “I fell in love with DeLand and wanted to come back and stay here permanently. Thank you for making that happen.”
Loria had come to DeLand numerous times to take part in Defending Freedom Warrior Weekend, a nonprofit organization that has provided adaptive skydiving and golf opportunities for combat-wounded veterans in the DeLand area for the past 10 years.
The organization was given the home in January 2016, after the city foreclosed on the property that had sat vacant for several years after being gutted by a fire.
While Defending Freedom took the lead in coordinating the house’s complete renovation, Quin Booth, the organization’s president, said it couldn’t have happened without the help of skilled tradesmen and community volunteers.
“A lot of effort and a lot of sweat equity went into this,” Booth said. “A lot of people helped make this happen, and we couldn’t have done it without the help of a lot of the trades.”
Tradesmen replaced electrical wiring, plumbing, the roof, windows, appliances, heating and air conditioning, and other elements, Booth said. The general contractor was George Jenkins, and Rob Carelli Sr. drew up the plans.
The DeLand community also was well-represented. Volunteers from First United Methodist Church, the Garden Club of DeLand, DeLand High School’s Interact Club, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2380 in DeLand, and more than a dozen individuals pitched in to help make Loria’s dream a reality.
“These people didn’t do it for the fanfare,” Booth said. “They did it for a veteran, to welcome him to the community.”
- Joe Crews, joe@beacononlinenews.com
PREVIOUSLY REPORTED
Thanks to a partnership among the City of DeLand, Defending Freedom Warrior Weekend, and the DeLand community at large, a combat-wounded U.S. Army veteran has a new home.
Defending Freedom Warrior Weekend, a nonprofit organization that has provided adaptive skydiving and golf opportunities for combat-wounded veterans in the DeLand area for the past 10 years, formally turned over the keys to the home to Cpl. Robert Loria during a dedication ceremony April 1.
Loria was a combat engineer in the U.S. Army from 1999 to 2005, serving combat tours. He was wounded during combat in Iraq on Feb. 9, 2004, and medically retired the next year.
Loria survived a left-arm amputation and severe muscle damage to his left leg.
He received a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star with Valor, and commendation medals for his actions in combat.
“After attending Defending Freedom Warrior Weekend multiple times, Robert fell in love with the City of DeLand and is overjoyed at the opportunity to accept his new home,” said Quin Booth, president of Defending Freedom Warrior Weekend.
The home Loria has received on East Georgia Avenue was refurbished and modernized with the help of donations and volunteer time from members of the DeLand community, according to Booth.
The City of DeLand donated the home, while the majority of labor and materials came from local businesses and volunteer organizations.
Booth said Loria is receiving his new home free and clear and that the veteran looks forward to starting his new life in DeLand.
"I'm very grateful to be here. I'm happy to be here. I've been coming here since the second year that the skydiving event and the golf event has been going on,” Loria said at his home’s dedication. “I fell in love with this place the day that I got here, and wanted to come back and stay here permanently.”
“I was lucky enough that these gentlemen here [Quin and Bill Booth of Defending Freedom Warrior Weekend] found this house and got this going, and now, my dream is a reality,” he added.
— Anthony DeFeo, anthony@beacononlinenews.com