​-51 Degrees Outside ​

 The first time we spoke with *Monica in North Pole AK she said that without the wind chill it was -51 degrees outside. A native of Mexico, Monica and her three children are committed to stay close to her husband, Stephen’s final resting place.  Stephen was KIA in northern Iraq in November 2005. Through the miracle of in-vitro fertilization, Monica actually had their third child a full two-years after Stephen was KIA.

Monica continued to have a difficult time coping with her husband’s death; even sleeping in the same bedroom they shared was hard. Thus she decided to put a modest addition onto their house. Monica struggled for years with the shoddy work of local contractors. Once completed one of the first things she noticed was they could not keep the addition warm. When they checked in the attic they discovered that it was black from moisture and had no insulation. Remember, this is in North Pole, Alaska. Monica soon found out that her contractor had taken some major shortcuts. She was stuck with a mess.

According to her insurance person, a major issue Monica faced was because the contractor failed to install the gutters, he had promised, water was coming off the roof and seeping under the concrete walk next to the foundation. This situation was contributing to “heaving” and potentially more major damage. FHAF began immediately to work with a seamless gutter contractor to install gutters and partner with Home Depot to demo the poor work and rebuild the addition to code. Though the first phase of this project is completed, more will need to be done in the spring.
*not her real name
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Notes of Gratitude

'Thank you for your Gifts of Gratitude towards my family.  I know mine was a very challenging gift to give and I can’t thank you enough for not giving up on my family.  [FHAF] thank you for coming up with the GOG [Gifts of Gratitude] and giving back to the families of the fallen. May God continue to support your organization so that you can continue to do what you do. Thank you.'
MS (husband, Stephen KIA)

"I'm so grateful for your message and to read all the additional things you guys are planning to help me with. I'm in tears as I'm typing this email. How will I ever be able to thank you enough for helping me fix my home? "
MS (husband, Stephen KIA)