Purple Heart recipient presented with mortgage-free home
Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, one of the country’s largest mortgage companies, has once again joined forces with the Boot Campaign and the Military Warriors Support Foundation, nonprofit organizations supporting returning American military troops, to sponsor a mortgage-free home for a wounded military veteran.
Retired Lance Cpl. William Michael Puffenbarger was presented with a mortgage-free home during the first Fairway Boot Camp in 2014.
Puffenbarger is the first of many home recipients on Fairway’s National 2014 Boot Camp Tour and the 14th recipient to date, where Fairway has honored a wounded veteran with the American dream of homeownership, without the obligation of a mortgage or mortgage payments.
After joining the Marines in 2005 to serve his country, Puffenbarger was deployed to Iraq in 2007. It was in Iraq that he sustained multiple injuries from an IED blast, including a traumatic brain injury, and was awarded the Purple Heart. He still suffers from PTSD, back and knee pain, and numbness in both feet.
Puffenbarger is married and has a 4-year-old son. His plans for the future are to continue to grow his family and take his rehabilitation one day at a time.
The mortgage-free home was presented to Puffenbarger and his family during a Fairway Independent Mortgage Boot Camp event held in Rehoboth designed to train local real estate agents on how to help active U.S. military service members and veterans overcome their unique challenges to buying a home. Fairway’s Military Mortgage Specialist and Certified Military Residential Specialist certification programs equip housing professionals to handle with care the home purchase needs of active-duty and former military clients.
“William is a true American hero, and we are grateful for his service,” said Louise Thaxton, Fairway’s Military Mortgage director, who presented Puffenbarger with the key to his mortgage-free home. “He has sacrificed so much for his country. He, like many other Americans who have put their lives on the line, deserves a chance at homeownership. Our Boot Camp events were created to help them realize that dream.”
Fairway Independent Mortgage is a proud supporter of the American military and has helped thousands of active military personnel and veterans nationwide buy homes. The financial contributions from Fairway employees are what help provide mortgage-free homes to veterans, in association with the Boot Campaign, a nonprofit organization supporting returning American military troops, and made possible through the Military Warriors Support Foundation’s Homes 4 Wounded Heroes program.
After acquiring distressed properties from financial institutions, the Military Warriors Support Foundation uses funds provided by Fairway to provide accommodations and modifications for the specific heroes. In addition to the home, the families receive three years of family and financial mentoring. Combat-wounded veterans or unmarried Gold Star spouses of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom are encouraged to apply for a mortgage-free home by visiting www.militarywarriors.org/openhomes.
