The National Wood Flooring Association marked its 86th home through the Gary Sinise Foundation R.I.S.E. program on March 5, when members helped dedicate a new house for retired U.S. Army Sgt. Mary Dague in Four Oaks, North Carolina. NWFA member Peachey Hardwood donated the flooring for the home.
Dague chose to serve after witnessing the events of 9/11, and her military career changed forever during a 2007 deployment in Iraq. She and her team were responding to an IED placed between a school and an apartment building when she noticed the device moving and moved to shield her team. The blast cost her both arms.
Her story did not end there. Dague has also battled breast cancer, a detail that made the dedication a recognition not only of service but of endurance. At the ceremony, Stephanie Owen said that in addition to losing both arms in service to the country, Dague had also faced breast cancer, and that despite those setbacks she continued to inspire others with her positive attitude and fighting spirit. Owen said the group was honored to partner with Peachey Hardwood to provide real wood floors for the new home.
The home in Four Oaks is part of a larger effort that has already delivered 86 houses for injured veterans through the Gary Sinise Foundation’s R.I.S.E. program. NWFA is also working with members on 13 additional homes that are in various stages of planning and construction. Across the country, 163 NWFA member companies have donated product, logistics and installation services, contributions the association says exceed $7 million in value.
That is the point of the project as much as the house itself: the floor under Dague’s new home came from a network large enough to keep building, and the need is still ahead of it. The next milestone will come as those 13 homes move from plans to completion, carrying the same promise into another veteran’s life.