St. Louis, Mo.—The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) has provided flooring for its 75th home in support of the Gary Sinise Foundation R.I.S.E. program (Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment). The R.I.S.E. program builds mortgage-free, custom, specially adapted smart homes for severely wounded veterans and first responders. The home dedication for U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 (Ret.) Patrick Scrogin took place on January 18, in Chicago, Ill. Flooring for the project was donated by NWFA member WD Flooring. Installation services for the project were donated by NWFA member Totallywood Flooring.
CW2 Scrogin joined the military following the 9/11 attacks. Upon graduating Basic Training with honors, he was assigned to the elite 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky. He was deployed to Iraq and spent more than 13 months in combat operations. Returning from combat, he attended Warrant Officer Candidate School and Army Flight School, finishing with honors. In 2007, while deployed in Iraq, he was involved in a helicopter crash, resulting in nine fractured vertebrae, a crushed pelvis and the loss of his left leg above the knee.
“Chief Warrant Officer Scrogin died twice on the way to the hospital immediately following the crash,” said NWFA president and CEO, Michael Martin. “And underwent nearly 60 surgeries following that day. Today, he works as an Air Traffic Controller and co-hosts a podcast called Veterans’ Radio Hour. We’re honored to partner with WD Flooring and Totallywood Flooring to provide beautiful wood floors for his new home.”
In addition to the 75 homes already completed, NWFA currently is working with its members to source wood flooring for 11 additional R.I.S.E. homes in various stages of planning and construction. Currently, 155 NWFA member companies have donated product, logistics and installation services in locations throughout the United States, with a total value of more than $6.9 million. A list of all NWFA R.I.S.E. participating companies can be found at here.