Disabled Veteran From Lakeland Receives Gift Of Home And Warm Welcome

LAKELAND, FL — As well-wishers lined the neighborhood in Lakeside Preserve, a procession of Lakeland police vehicles, fire trucks, handmade cars and motorcycle units escorted former U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Rahmeka Hopkins and her family to their new mortgage-free home.

Hopkins is among more than 300 wounded veterans to receive a home courtesy of the national nonprofit, Building Homes For Heroes, which provides mortgage-free homes to wounded veterans across the country, with the help of homebuilder Highland Homes.

After joining the military in 2004 because she said she wanted the honor of wearing the uniform and serving her country, Hopkins was assigned to Special Operations where she spent her days working in a critical and life-changing environment.

But, in 2017, she faced her own life-changing event. When she woke up on Jan. 3 of that year, she said she knew something was wrong with her.

It took 35 hospitalizations, six months at Walter Reed Hospital and more than seven different specialists to diagnose her with a rare form of cancer, presumed to be from chemical exposure. As a result, she has severe nerve damage and malignant arthritis that causes intense pain in her legs and feet, forcing her to depend on a wheelchair to get around.

Hopkins was discharged from the military in 2019 after serving 15 years and receiving the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Korean Defense Service Medal.

But one of her biggest rewards came last month when Highland Homes and Building Homes for Heroes presented her with a retrofitted wheelchair-accessible mortgage-free home where she can raise her children.

Building Homes for Heroes was founded by Andy Pujol, who volunteered in the search-and-rescue mission following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Witnessing the horrors of the terrorist attacks firsthand, Pujol made a pledge to help those men and women in the military who risk their lives for their country.

He presented the first home to a veteran 13 years ago. Since then, the nonprofit has provided homes to more than 300 injured veterans. veterans by the end of 2022, and nearly one home