Disabled veteran receives VA help to purchase home

Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Army veteran Ken Brewer is joined by Kim Heinen, Kim Blackburn, Bob Harrison, Jo Etta Rheuby, Jim Steelsmith and Danielle Genz as he receives the keys to his custom-built home in Mountain Home. After being medically discharged from the Army in 2005, Brewer was finally able to realize his dream of home ownership. Thanks, in part, to a Veterans Administration program that helps severely disabled veterans build or remodel specially adapted housing, Brewer is now able to be self sufficient in his new home.

by Tim Bondy

Mountain Home News

An disabled Army veteran from Mountain Home had one of his dreams come true last Tuesday when he received the keys to his very own custom-built home.

Ken Brewer, admits the whole process was a long, exhausting journey of paperwork and perseverance.

Brewer grew up in Mountain and joined the Army 1986 straight out of high school. He went through boot camp and was sent to Germany for his first assignment.

He was reassigned to Gowen Field in Boise, where he stayed for the rest of his military career. By 2000, Brewer started showing signs of an undefined illness.

Five years later, he was medically discharged from the Army with a diagnosis of ataxia movement disorder. He is currently confined to a wheelchair.

Kim Blackburn, a senior appraiser with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Boise, has worked with Brewer helping him to navigate all the intricacies and details of the VAs Specially Adapted Housing, or SAH, program.

Brewer said without the help of Blackburn, the VA program and a long list of dedicated local business people such as the home loan specialists, a home builder, construction contractors, credit counselors and underwriters, he likely would never have been able to get into his new, three-bedroom home.

"I'm still in shock and really just realizing I'll be living in this home pretty soon," Brewer said.

After a clearing up few city land plat boundary line issues, Bob Harrison, the house builder finally got started on construction of the 1,700 square foot home located in the center of town. There are many small, yet significant handicapped features built into design, including a large accessible shower, raised electrical outlets and roll under counter top spaces.

"With all the custom features of the home, I will be self-sufficient and can do everything for my self for the first time in a long time," Brewer said.

Real estate agent Jim Steelsmith pointed out that the largest doorway threshold in the home was just one-half inch high, allowing Brewer to easily roll out the back door or into the garage.

Kim Heinen, the home loan specialist who helped Brewer arrange the financing for his new house asked him what his "favorite part of the house might be." Brewer was quick to say the large shower in the master bedroom.

The VA's SAH program offers grants to certain military service members and veterans with severe service-connected disabilities to assist them in building, remodeling, or purchasing an adapted home.

"I was able to afford my new home because of the $74,000 VA grant program and the long hours all my friends put into making this happen," Brewer said.