Volunteers with Habitat for Humanity's Veterans Week of Service worked this week to give veterans more pride in their homes.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 20 volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, Friends of U.S. Military Families and MacDill Air Force Base participated

  • Tampa home given fresh coat of paint, along with cleaning yard and replacing ramps

  • "Just looking at all these volunteers makes me feel good," said veteran Carl Montgomery

  • LINK: Volunteer with Habitat Hillsborough

Army veteran Carl Montgomery lives with his father, who is also a veteran. Volunteers spruced up their Tampa home as part of the service project.

"I feel blessed, I didn’t think people cared," said Montgomery.

The father and son are both Army veterans and they are both wheelchair bound.

More than 20 volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, Friends of U.S. Military Families and MacDill Air Force Base gave their Tampa home a fresh coat of paint, cleaned up the yard, and repaired and replaced ramps in and outside the home.

"It will be easier to move around and with my dad and his condition, it will be easier to move him around, too because we move him from one room to another, so we won’t have to struggle that much — nice and smooth," said Montgomery.

Montgomery is grateful for all the improvements that were done to his home.

​"Just watching them, how efficient they is, getting it done," said Montgomery as he watched volunteers like Kent Paro, who spent his time painting.

"As an American, I’m grateful for the 1% that decides to serve, and as a veteran myself I had the privilege of serving with the best sons and daughters our nation can produce," said Paro. "And anytime I can give back to one of those sons or daughters, I try to."

"And I think it’s important for us to support our local community," added Paro, who is also president of Friends of U.A. Military Families.

"I am thrilled," said Montgomery. "I’m so happy right now, I just can’t contain myself. Just looking at all these volunteers makes me feel good."

Montgomery served four years in the Army and said military service is a family tradition — there are 10 relatives who have served or are currently serving in the military, he said.

"It’s a lot of pride," said Montgomery of what the family calls the Montgomery 10.

Montgomery, proud of his family service, is now feeling a new sense of pride in his home, too.

"A good feeling," said Montgomery. "Feel pretty good about the whole thing, looks like a brand new house."

Volunteers will return to the Montgomery home to modify the bathroom to better accommodate the wheelchairs.