Milwaukee-area hometown veteran awarded mortgage-free, fully furnished home

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A hometown hero was awarded a 100% mortgage free home in Milwaukee on Thursday, Feb. 22.

It's thanks to a nationwide nonprofit known as Military Warriors Support Foundation whose mission is to support combat-wounded veterans, gold star spouses and their families as they transition into civilian life. The Homes4Heroes program is in partnership with Bank of America.

"I was constantly packing, moving, packing, moving, so to have my own place that I know I don't have to end a lease in a year or look for a new place...it really takes a weight off my shoulders," said Sgt. Tiffany Baker.

She was given keys to her new three-bedroom, one bathroom mortgage-free home. The program completely renovates foreclosed houses and usually gives them away within 90 days.

"We've awarded a home literally in all fifty states," said Allison Peterson, the Director of Donor Development for Military Warriors Support Foundation.

Baker's fully furnished home has become the third house donated to a hero in the Milwaukee area since the start of the program in 2010.

For Baker, this brings much needed stability.

"When I came home from deployment it was, it was tough," she said. "I couldn't find purpose in things again; I was kind of all over the place...I never lived in a place longer than two years."

She served six years and was deployed with the Army National Guard to Afghanistan in 2012.

"I was a truck driver...I was actually in an accident oversees," Baker explained. "My very first mission, we were on our way back to our fob and ran over a 250-pound IED; it provides an explosive device, and it rolled my vehicle...we all survived but we were pretty injured."

Baker sustained traumatic brain injuries and underwent four hip surgeries.

In 2016 she was diagnosed with Chronic Neurologic Lyme Disease, and she told CBS 58 her plans of buying her own home was no longer a reality.

"Because it was left untreated for so long, it was it was pretty bad and so I drained my entire savings account to try to get healing and help with that," she said.

She said she's thankful to have applied to the program back in 2018, though she said she completely forgot about doing so then.

Now, she can focus on her health and her future without having to worry about a home expense.

"I don't always have great things that happen, I don't have great luck usually; for this to happen it was kind of hard for me to believe," Baker said.