Jeld-Wen's Veterans' Network Employee Resource Group teamed up with the Gary Sinise Foundation's R.I.S.E. program, which provides specially adapted smart homes and home modifications to severely wounded veterans, first responders and their families.
About one of the homes
Wounded veteran U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Dennet Oregon, his wife Katherine and their two children are counting the days to October when they move into their new home in Murrieta, California. Dennet's home is being specially adapted for him, a double amputee in a wheelchair, thanks to the Gary Sinise Foundation. And the home is fitted with Jeld-Wen Siteline windows from the Rantoul, Illinois, facility and LaCantina patio doors from the Oceanside, California, facility.
Dennet and his family will move into one of the eight to 10 homes the Gary Sinise Foundation is building in 2024. This house marks the first with donations from Jeld-Wen.
Jeld-Wen's involvement
After learning the Gary Sinise Foundation did not have a window and door manufacturer partner, Joe Miranda, senior product manager in Windows North America and chair of the Jeld-Wen Veterans' Network ERG, saw an opportunity to benefit a special veteran.
"The Gary Sinise Foundation has always been on my radar and now that I lead the Jeld-Wen Veterans' Network ERG, it is the perfect time to make an impact in the veteran community,” says Miranda. “Their mission, goals and values parallel those of the JW Veterans' Network ERG and provides the perfect platform for veteran recognition, community engagement and reinforcement that we are here to help and support how we can.”
“At the Gary Sinise Foundation, we serve our nation by honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families and those in need. We do this by creating and supporting unique programs designed to entertain, educate, inspire, strengthen and build communities.”
Team members at the Rantoul and Oceanside manufacturing plants documented the journey of the donated windows and doors. The journey continued as the Gary Sinise Foundation shared photos of installation. Miranda will represent Jeld-Wen in June for a Walls of Honor ceremony, where friends, family, loved ones and partners write messages of gratitude, love and appreciation on the walls of the specially adapted home prior to completion.
“The Veterans' Network ERG is here to make Jeld-Wen a premier employer for veterans, including hiring, retaining and promoting from within, while also providing a platform to connect, share and strengthen personal bonds,” says Miranda. “Being a veteran myself, one specific trait we all share is esprit de corps; that is, a shared feeling of loyalty and pride within a team that promotes camaraderie and respect for one another.”
