{"id":290643,"date":"2026-05-31T04:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/290643\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T04:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:23:10","slug":"veteran-gets-new-home-after-old-home-damaged-by-hurricane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/290643\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran gets new home after old home damaged by hurricane"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Several years after hurricanes hit Central Florida, some homeowners are still waiting for repairs to their homes. And some are still waiting to return to their homes because the damage was so bad.<\/p>\n

Patricia Golden\u2019s Eatonville was damaged by Hurricane Ian.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hurricane in 2022 literally destroyed the roof, and the water was coming in,\u201d said Golden. \u201cAnd time went by, and all the critters felt like they had a home now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Squatters also eventually made themselves at home in Golden\u2019s house, after the veteran had been living elsewhere for a period of time while she was recovering from double-knee surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe house just rotted more, there was tree damage, and it got to a point where it was uninhabitable,\u201d said Rusty Smallwood, Director of Construction with Building Homes for Heroes.<\/p>\n

And it got worse for Golden, too. She found herself battling cancer. But she never gave up hope that she would one day find herself back in her own home, in part thanks to her pastor\u2019s prophetic words.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me I would be having a home,\u201d said Golden.<\/p>\n

And Golden never lost her resolve, something she built from years serving overseas as a U.S. Army sergeant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of mental stress, especially if you are preparing for war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, after her old home was torn down,\u00a0Building Homes for Heroes<\/a>,\u00a0the Greater Orlando Builders Association, and other local partners joined together to build her a new home on the same property. And when that new home was built, Golden got a police escort and a hero\u2019s homecoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s what it\u2019s been\u2014survival mode \u2014 and so now this is just a beautiful thing,\u201d said Golden. \u201cI feel real good that God would honor me with this house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Golden is far from alone when it comes to those who\u2019ve sought assistance after hurricane damage to their homes.\u00a0Orange County Recovers<\/a>\u00a0says that for those impacted by hurricanes Ian and Milton, they\u2019ve completed 13 construction projects, 21 more are under construction, and 127 homeowners are still in the application review process. Meanwhile, Golden\u2019s home is the 67th home Building Homes for Heroes has helped build, gift or modify for veterans. They\u2019ve helped more than 230 veterans across Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now Golden won\u2019t have to worry about rain coming into her home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a 50-year roof. I don\u2019t have to worry about that anymore,\u201d said Golden.<\/p>\n

And after all she\u2019s been through, this veteran can finally enjoy her new home in a community she\u2019s always called home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can live the rest of my days here\u2014however long I\u2019ve got\u2014I\u2019ve got a place,\u201d said Golden. \u201cI don\u2019t have to worry about anything; it\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building Homes for Heroes says it\u2019s on track later this year to help 500 veterans across the country with home repairs, modifications, or full home replacements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Several years after hurricanes hit Central Florida, some homeowners are still waiting for repairs to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[12716,115,1335,139,141,140,12166,3393,835],"class_list":["post-290643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-jeff-allen","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-storm-season","tag-veterans","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}