On Memorial Day, Homes For Heroes honors the families left behind
Laura Roman had been working with Stacy for more than five years when Stacy’s son called. He had just left active duty and was entering civilian life. He needed a real estate agent.
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Stacy is an Air Force veteran and Gold Star spouse whose husband died in the line of duty. What started as a real estate relationship became something more, with Roman serving as an intermediary and advocate, as well as a friend, through renovation projects, long-term planning and the work of rebuilding after loss.
Roman is one of thousands of real estate agents affiliated with Homes for Heroes, a program created after September 11, 2001 to connect heroes with real estate agents and lenders who understand their needs.
Laura Romans
“This is not about transactions,” Roman wrote in a statement Inman. “It’s about trust. It’s about showing up consistently and understanding that ‘home’ means something different for families who have sacrificed so much.”
Founded after September 11, 2001, by Ruth Johnson, Houses for heroes connects real estate agents and mortgage lenders to what the organization defines as the hero community: active duty military, veterans, Gold Star families, teachers, first responders, nurses and physicians. Since its inception, the program has returned nearly $192 million to heroes at closure, with nearly $80 million going specifically to military and veteran families.
Over the past two full years, the organization has served nearly 4,500 military hero families and returned more than $15 million in hero rewards. The program’s 501(c)(3) foundation has distributed $622,500 in grants to 58 military-focused organizations and is on track to surpass $2 million in grants by June.
What Memorial Day means at Homes for Heroes
Interim CEO Amit Kulkarni, a first-generation immigrant who stepped into the role six weeks ago after founder Johnson took a sabbatical, said Memorial Day carries a weight he didn’t expect when he joined.
Amit Kulkarni
“This country, despite everything you hear in the news, is still pretty great,” he said Inman. “That’s not free. It takes real sacrifice to make sure we have the freedoms and the lifestyle that we have.”
Homes for Heroes will mark the holiday through partner-coordinated events, including placing flags at the Phoenix Memorial Cemetery at the Sergeants Association, the organization said. It also coordinates Wreaths Across America deployments each December and a POW/MIA recognition event at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.
How the program works
Affiliated agents and lenders work with heroes in their local market from search through closing. Heroes receive an immediate financial reward after closing, which is deliberately timed to avoid interfering with down payment assistance programs that many rely on to get into a home. A portion of program revenue also funds the Homes for Heroes Foundation, which provides grants to organizations serving heroes in need.
“Most of the money goes directly to the hero,” Kulkarni said. “You’re giving back to someone who gave their life to the community.”
Heroes as defined by the program – a category that includes military personnel, veterans, teachers, healthcare professionals and first responders – represent an estimated 1 in 4 to 1 in 3 U.S. households. based on federal personnel data. Homes for Heroes estimates that share at roughly 30 percent of the purchasing market.
An agent’s chance
For agents, Kulkarni sees participation as a business case rather than a mission. Agents who build relationships in the hero community, he said, are better positioned for referral-based businesses than those who seek portal leads.
Roman’s account of her work with Stacy reflects that dynamic. After five years, Stacy sent her son back when he left active duty. She has since referred friends and colleagues.
“Serving military families has profoundly changed me,” Roman wrote. “It has taught me that the greatest impact we can make is not measured by sales volume, but by the relationships we build and the way we care for people long after the closing day.”
Heroes who have completed the program describe the experience in weekly testimonials, which the organization calls Hero Gold:
“This is a great program to support our veterans and first responders. Thank you for your support.” –Shane, Army, VA
“The overwhelming process of buying my first home was turned into simple steps, and everything was done so quickly.” – Christian, Leger, AZ
“Our agent explained everything thoroughly, answered all the questions we had and made buying our first home very smooth.” — Mallory, EMS, OH
Serving Gold Star Families
Gold Star families are eligible for the program’s full range of services, although Kulkarni said homeownership is rarely the most pressing need for a surviving family, and agents working with this community should understand that distinction.
“It’s not really about buying a house at that point,” he said. “It’s about giving them a shoulder to lean on. Let’s put people first.”
Kulkarni said the most effective affiliates are those who lead by listening rather than acting. For Gold Star spouses who need to manage their loss, housing stability and family needs in addition to their finances, a knowledgeable agent can serve as a liaison to resources they may not know exist.
He pointed officers to the Tunnel to Towers Foundationwhich he said offers a mortgage-free home program for surviving Gold Star spouses with young children, as a resource worth knowing. VA loans, state-level survivor benefits and other programs are also available, he said, and an affiliate partner can help families navigate options they might not find on their own.
“These families have made the ultimate sacrifice,” Kulkarni said. “Whatever we can do to help them get some stability during a very challenging time, that’s what it’s all about.”
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