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Helping heroes who need a hand

Times Press - 2/3/2017

For years, Gary Roehrig carried guilt with him after not getting a chance to serve in the armed forces and his country.

Roehrig was in the draft in the 1960s. However, he had two brothers who were already in the military and in war zones, which took away his opportunity because of a law implemented in 1948 - the Sole Survivor Policy or the Sullivan Law.

The law is designed to protect family members from the draft or from combat duty if they have already lost family members in military service. The law was the focal point of the 1998 movie, "Saving Private Ryan."

Roehrig's father was also in the military, including being involved in the invasion of Normandy in and the Battle of the Bulge. "My whole life, I always wished I had the opportunity to serve," Roehrig said.

With patience, he came across the perfect opportunity and he didn't waste it.

Roehrig, a teacher at Moraine Park Technical College in West Bend and an ABC Carpentry Apprentice instructor, is taking part in an effort to build homes for homeless veterans in Racine with the help of MPTC students.

"I think it's outstanding," he said about the opportunity. "These guys served our country."

The project is called the "Tiny Home Initiative." The goal is to help homeless veterans not only find homes but also be integrated back into society. There will be 14 small homes, each about 8 feet by 16 feet, that will make up what will be called "The James A. Peterson Veterans Village."

Five are on site already. Moraine Park is building two more.

"They're essentially big man caves," Roehrig said. But their purpose is far greater than that.

In addition to the village, there is a community center that will host a full kitchen supplied with a food pantry. There are also showers, bathrooms and a meeting hall.

Each tiny home will be furnished and equipped with a mini-fridge, a microwave and a compost toilet.

"The intent is that it not become a place where they can get away from society, but integrate them back into society," Roehrig said. "They're basically a living room with a loft for a bedroom. And they've got a little closet in them."

It is a two-year transitional living program where the veterans can get mental health counseling, AODA counseling, work search, veterans benefit search, financial advice and housing placement.

There is also a furniture pantry where people can donate furniture, including a couch or a dining set, to the program and be given to the veterans.

"As these veterans transition out of this and become more integrated into society and they start looking for housing on their own, it's not like they're going in with nothing," Roehrig said.

Roehrig heard about the program almost a year ago. Each year in the apprentice classes, the students have to have practice floor framing, wall framing and roofing.

"We build a building," Roehrig said. "Like a 12-by 15-foot building. We put all sorts of cables in. But when we get done, we tear it apart and throw all the pieces away. I've always been concerned about the uses of our resources and those kinds of things. There's got to be something better than just tossing this stuff in the dumpster."

Then, one day, he found out about the veterans village.

"When I saw this, I thought, ?Wait a second. It's a win for everybody,'" Roehrig said.

He called the program's organizer, Jeff Gustin, and told him he and his students would be happy to help in whatever way possible.

"He said, ?Oh God yes,'" Roehrig said.

Within weeks, planning began. Then, he realized there was a problem.

The original plan was to build the homes at Moraine Park, put them on a truck and take them to Racine. He realized that wasn't possible because the houses would be too tall to fit under overpasses.

The solution?

Build the homes in West Bend or panelize them, then take them apart, stack them onto a truck and be reassembled in Racine.

From there, Roehrig said it was Gustin's idea to get the veterans involved by helping each other put the homes together.

"The other issue we had was code enforcement," Roehrig said. "The Racine building inspectors would have to come up and take a look at them. If we're panelizing them to be put up (in Racine), the inspectors can be on site."

Outside of getting veterans off the streets and into homes in Racine, Roehrig hopes a similar program makes its way into Washington County.

"This becomes a template for other communities," he said. "The community rallies around it."

"The heart is in the right place," he added.

And that's the case for Roehrig. "I was not privileged enough to

serve for this country," he said. "This is my way for helping those guys out. So many of them made the ultimate sacrifice."