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Celebrities gathered at the veterans housing tract off of Centre Point Parkway to finish nine of the homes that will be made available at low cost to veterans later this year.
Actors from NBC, CBS and Fox placed down baseboards, paved driveways and helped build the top nine homes of the veterans housing tract from the third phase of Homes 4 Families’ Veteran Enriched Neighborhood for the second time this year.
“This is the second community of its kind and we’re breaking ground on a third project in Palmdale,” said Donielle De Leon, director of corporate and community engagement for Homes 4 Families. “Today, we have our Celebs4Vets team out here. We’re 26 strong out today. The program is much bigger than that but that’s who came out today.”
Celebs4Vets is a membership-based program that is made up of members in the entertainment industry who believe in the Homes 4 Families mission and want to give their support by participating.
“(The celebrities) really had a great time and they wanted to come back out,” De Leon said. “They’ve raised just over $7,000 in cash so far in donations, and they will do well over $10,000 of work today.”
The homes built by Homes 4 Families are made available to low-income veterans and their families and will give them access to various services to help the families transition back into civilian life.
Many of these programs include art therapy, a military children’s program, tutoring, equine therapy, mentorship, financial education classes, veterans benefits assistance and an urban community garden, according to an information fact sheet from Homes 4 Families.
Building these homes was just one way the celebrities could say thank you to members of the armed forces that fight for the country, they said.
“This is my second time out with this group. It was an incredible day of hard work and fun. It was such an incredible cause, I swore I would be back,” said actor Judd Lormand, who plays Lt. Commander Erik Blackburn on the TV show “SEAL Team.” “My family is full of military heroes. Our troops are over there doing what they do so we can do all of this stuff back at home. I think it’s super, super important to take care of those guys when they get home. To all the veterans, thank you. It’s not a cliche, from the bottom of my heart thank you for everything you’ve done for us.”
Participants in Saturday’s build day included:
Jon Huertas (“This is Us”)
Neil Brown Jr. (“SEAL Team”)
Judd Lormand (“SEAL Team”)
Toni Trucks (“SEAL Team”)
Keesha Sharp (“Lethal Weapon”)
Johnathon Fernandez (“Lethal Weapon”)
Chandler Kinney (“Lethal Weapon”)
Brad Sharp (musician/actor)
Raegan Revord (“Young Sheldon”)
Alison Haislip (“Battlebots”)
Tate Ellington (“The Brave”)
Nichole Bloom (“Superstore”)
Reed Diamond (“Designated Survivor”)
Tanner Buchanan (“Cobra Kai”)
Shantel VanSanten (“Shooter”)
Victor Webster (“Continuum”)
Edwin Hodge (“Six”)
Aldis Hodge (“Turn: Washington’s Spies”)
Michael Irby (“Mayans MC”)
Elvy Yost (“The Catch”)
Homes 4 Families is always looking for volunteers for any one of their many build days, including their Rainbow Build on Sept 8, which seeks LGBTQ volunteers to help with the builds.
Those looking to help Homes 4 Families can visit their website at https://www.homes4families.org/donations/volunteering-2/.
