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Our cottage is ready to transport to Vista, and the site has been cleared for the truck and equipment to set our cottage modules on the foundation.  We had hoped to transport our cottage  to Vista before the end of January.  However, a delay in securing a contract for transport services, coupled with a storm of wind and rain, thwarted our plans.  It is not a good idea to transport 24’ long x 11’ high wood ‘boxes’ in gusting winds and driving rain.  It is also not advisable to drive a heavy truck on a pavestone driveway with a water saturated [...]

Founded in 2009, Pacific M Painting, Inc. is a residential and commercial painting contractor operating in San Diego and Inland Empire counties.  Pacific M’s leadership team consists of Jeff Mullin, President, Mike Hunsinger, VP, and John Mullin, CFO.  Between the three of them, they have been painting in San Diego County for over 30 years.  They have seen markets come and go and generations of painters move through their ranks.  They appreciate the need for the next generation of men and women in skilled trades.  Jeff heard about the Warrior Village Project from the BIA.  He was impressed to find a [...]

Dan Epstein is well known as the Founder of The ConAm Group, one of the top privately owned apartment management/ownership firms in the country.  I learned about Dan and his wife Phyllis at the ribbon   cutting ceremony for the Veterans Center at Cal State San Marcos that was funded by the Epsteins.  I was surprised when Dan called me with an offer to help our students and our veterans after reading about our project in the San Diego Union Tribune.  This led to a donation of $10,000 from the Epsteins to Wounded Warrior Homes to pay for the installation of our [...]

Receipt of the building permit for our first cottage at a Wounded Warrior Homes residence in Vista kicked off the next phase of our project - the start of site work.  We ‘broke ground’ on Saturday, December 5th.  Twelve volunteers, including a team of four Seabee volunteers from Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303 (CBMU-303) did excavation and trenching work for the foundation and underground utilities.  Jon Hill from Associated General Contractors supervised the foundation work, while Rick Millwee and Wes Jenkins from RM Plumbing guided trenching operations for the plumbing, and Mike McSweeney provided overall oversight.

No one knows who first said: ”No good deed goes unpunished.”  But, when you live in the most litigious state in the most litigious country in the world, it is wise to heed the warning.  When I asked Mike Amos who I should talk to about liability insurance for our project, he said without hesitation, Robert L. Hemme, President of Strachota Insurance Agency, Inc.  Robert and his associate Deena Evancik worked many hours to find an underwriter who would insure our unique “new venture” of building homes with student labor.  Deena talked with many underwriters to get us the liability coverage [...]

I have known Mike and Debi Amos since they built our dream home for us in Fallbrook in 2009.  Their company, MLA General Contractor, Inc., did a beautiful job on our house, and they have been good friends ever since.  When we started the Warrior Village Project, one of my first actions was to seek Mike’s wisdom, gained from building custom homes for over 30 years.  For the last two years Mike and his sons TJ and Matthew have provided invaluable construction advice and have introduced me to others in the community who have become great supporters of our project.  Thank [...]

The Associated General Contractors of San Diego County (AGC) has been a steadfast partner of our program.  AGC Training & Apprenticeship Instructors Jon Hill and Alan Jurgensen taught carpentry skills to our students at San Marcos High School every Thursday when school was in session.  Jon supervised the excavation for the foundation and recruited fellow instructor Larry Paredes to supervise the construction of the forms for the foundation for our first cottage.  AGC donated lumber, rebar and other materials for the forms, and Larry, Jon and Alan were ‘hands on’ during construction of the forms.  Thank you AGC for your support [...]

One of the AWFS® member companies who answered SWM’s call for donations to support school woodworking programs was Royal Plywood Co. of Cerritos, California.  The company contributed over $50,000 in materials.  Arriving in two flatbed trucks, it included laminated panels and multiple species of hardwood.  They also shipped materials from Roseburg Forest Products in Oregon.  Dave Golling, Vice President of Business Development at Royal Plywood said: “We are just thrilled that we could help out the local high school students by donating some of the materials we have in stock.  We think this is a great program and will make a [...]

Member companies of the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS®) are big supporters and advocates for Career Technical Education (CTE) programs.  AWFS® companies partner with high schools with the intention of hiring students at graduation; offer internships and teacher externships; visit schools as guest speakers, and; open company operations for school tours. AWFS®  has supported the SkillsUSA organization for many years with the donation of materials and the time commitment of industry professionals.  In 2017 the Society of Wood Manufacturing (SWM), a chapter of AWFS, was created to increase industry support to high school woodshop programs in Southern California.