About two dozen volunteers were hard at work building a new home in west Charlotte on Monday.
Habitat for Humanity's Charlotte chapter held its second annual veterans home build on Memorial Day.
Katie Hanchuruck is one of two dozen volunteers with Habitat for Humanity. On Memorial Day, she's helping build a three-bedroom home for Gary Randolph, a 59-year-old Navy veteran, his fiancée and two grandchildren.
She directs Randolph to lift up and swing the bathroom wall frame so that they can nail it in place.
"Being a first time homeowner is great," Randolph says. "They say lost dreams awaken. So this was one of my dreams -- for my family and I to have a home."
Randolph was stationed in Pearl Harbor from 1972 to 1975 during the Vietnam War.
Mary English with Habitat for Humanity helped Randolph apply for the home. He will have up to 30 years to pay off a $90,000 interest-free mortgage. She says, traditionally, Memorial Day is celebrated with barbecues and visiting graves. But she says volunteering is another way of honoring veterans who lost their lives in wars.
"As you're out here working with each other, seeing the red white and blue studs, I think it's just a constant reminder of why we're able to be here and able to do this for other families," English says. "It's because of people like him that have served in the wars that we have the freedoms that we have."
Randolph expects to move into his home by mid-August.
