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A veteran's welcome home: Nonprofit giving away McKeesport house to military family

A veteran's welcome home: Nonprofit giving away McKeesport house to military family

Martha Rial, Post-Gazette
Renovation work continues on this house on Boyd Street in McKeesport, which will be given free to a military family. At right is an architect's rendering of what the house will look like once the renovations are completed.
Click photo for larger image.
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For more information on the "Home for the Holidays" house giveaway, call 412-673-9800 or visit www.thehopelives foundation.org. Entries must be submitted by Nov. 10 to The Hope Lives Foundation, Home for an Iraq Vet, 112 Arona Road, North Huntingdon, PA 15642.

As a real estate investor, Jim Toner has purchased hundreds of properties over the last 16 years. In all those deals, Toner's main goal was to make a profit.

This one, however, is different. Through his nonprofit The Hope Lives Foundation, Mr. Toner is renovating a house in McKeesport to give away to a family experiencing hardship due to a family member's military service in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"We wanted to give something back to these guys and thank them for their incredible service," says Mr. Toner, who has lined up contractors and firms to donate labor and materials for the four-bedroom, nearly 2,000-square-foot house on Boyd Street.

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The mortgage-free property will go to someone who can best describe the financial hardships, physical disabilities or other personal challenges that have resulted from military service, either in a two-page written essay or a video of five minutes or less. The entry deadline is this Thursday.

The winner and five runners-up will also receive scholarships to Real Estate Riches, Mr. Toner's real estate course, which teaches a step-by-step process for real estate investing.

When it's finished, the house will be nearly brand-new from the ground up, with all new windows, floors, electrical service, plumbing and drywall. It will have one full bathroom and a new kitchen from a ReMARKable Kitchen Store in Blawnox.

Other contractors and companies that have donated labor and/or materials are Famous Supply of Washington, Pa., Huckestein Mechanical Services of McKeesport, B & J Plumbing and Home Remodeling of Elizabeth, R & B Electric of West Mifflin, John Thornton of Moen, John Niklaus of Niklaus Supply in Cranberry, Jim Duffy of Security Settlements of North Huntingdon, Troy Lewis of West Elizabeth and Rund Corp.

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Martha Rial, Post-Gazette
Jim Toner stands on the front porch of the McKeesport house during renovation.
Click photo for larger image.

Mr. Toner is also hoping to line up a furniture manufacturer or retailer so the home will be completely furnished for the winners.

There is one catch to the contest: The winners must demonstrate they'll be able to pay real estate taxes on the property, which Mr. Toner estimates will have a fair market value of between $48,000 and $50,000 when completed.

The West Homestead native says he's not looking for families with a "gimme gimme" attitude: "I want someone who will take the house and run with it," he says. "This is a hand up, not a hand-out."

In fact, he says, the winner doesn't even have to agree to live in the house but could instead rent it or even sell it. "The idea is to give someone a financial start."

He also hopes the contest will showcase the community of McKeesport, which is flush with inexpensive houses just waiting to be fixed up, as well as to show people the right way to rehab a house.

This isn't the first time Mr. Toner has reached out to those in need. Since founding The Hope Lives Foundation in 2002, the investor has helped hundreds of displaced families who might have otherwise fallen through the cracks by providing everything from Thanksgiving turkeys and children's Christmas gifts to paying security deposits and utility bills. But this is the first time the charitable organization has undertaken such a large and potentially life-changing project.

While the contest was certainly inspired by ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," the true genesis for the idea sprang from a conversation Mr. Toner had with his good friend, Danny Pasquarelli, co-owner of Luciano's Italian Brick Oven in White Oak.

Mr. Pasquarelli 's son Michael, 22, enlisted in the Marine Forces Reserve after 9/11, and ended up doing two tours of duty on the front lines in Iraq. While he was lucky to return to the comfortable lifestyle he enjoyed before serving, many of his fellow soldiers weren't so fortunate: "He told me that a lot of these guys come back in pretty bad shape, with no money and no options," Mr. Toner says.

Meanwhile, he was trying to figure out what to do with the Boyd Street property, which he purchased in 1988 for $6,300 and then fixed up as a rental unit.

"I thought, 'We teach people to do that for a living, so why not do it for a vet?"

In August, Mr. Toner paid off the mortgage on the Boyd street property, made plans to gut it, and started enlisting friends and business associates to donate materials, labor or both. Among the first to sign on was master plumber Bruce Raible of B & J Plumbing and Home Remodeling.

"It was a great way to show how much we appreciate what these boys are doing for us, sacrificing their lives," he says.

Mr. Toner originally limited the contest to families living in southwestern Pennsylvania but had trouble getting applicants. So he recently decided to open it to military families living anywhere in the state. Entries will be judged by Captain Chris Stephens, who oversees the Salvation Army in McKeesport, and Bob Lee, who sits on the Hope Lives board. The winners will be announced in mid-December.

While the exterior of the house is well on its way, the interior still needs lots of work. To fill it, Mr. Toner is looking for everything from beds and tables to major appliances. Individuals are as important as companies, he says. Mr. Pasquarelli, for instance, is a restaurateur but is donating the vinyl siding.

"You don't have to be a big company to do this," says Mr. Toner. "When so many people come together, you can really make a difference."

First Published: November 5, 2005, 5:00 a.m.

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