Gary Sinise Foundation Donates Smart Home to Wounded Veteran

A wounded Iraq war veteran and his wife were welcomed into their nearly-finished smart home on Wednesday in Colorado.

Retired U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Matthew Slaydon and his wife, Annette, did not hold back their tears when 50 community members cheered as they stepped into their new house in Bayfield.

“I plan on living the rest of my life here, and I plan on paying this forward,” Slaydon commented during the Walls of Honor event. “I’ve got so many people that don’t have any scars, but they’re so horribly wounded still, that I want to share this with.”

The mortgage-free home was donated by the Gary Sinise Foundation along with other donors and specially designed to meet all of Slaydon’s needs.

The house will give him independent mobility so he can enjoy every inch of the property, according to his wife.

“Matt’s going to be able to wander this property on his own, which is something he hasn’t done in 12 years,” she said. “It’s really important, as we sit here and say thank you today, that you can really understand what a difference this is making in people’s lives.”

During his third deployment in Baghdad in 2007, a roadside bomb filled with nails and wood screws exploded two feet away from Slaydon, which caused him to lose his left arm and left eye. He now lives with bilateral blindness.

“Through his recovery process, Matthew was inspired to keep going because of his sense of duty, his family, and his military brothers and sisters. His wife, Annette, was by his side through the entire process,” the foundation’s website stated.

On Thursday, the foundation tweeted a photo of Slaydon and his wife inside their future home:

Yesterday, U.S. Air Force (Ret.) TSgt Matthew Slaydon and his wife Annette attended a Walls of Honor event for their future specially adapted smart home as part of the Foundation's R.I.S.E. program. Attendees wrote messages on the Slaydon's home framing. https://t.co/YsQg4DKqF4 pic.twitter.com/iJAurvpg0l

— GarySiniseFoundation (@GarySiniseFound) October 24, 2019

“This house is going to have all this technology in it to be able to help him live a more full and happy life here,” said foundation spokesman Chris Kuban.

“It’s all about helping veterans to help other veterans. We can’t change every veteran’s life, but we can change this veteran’s life,” he concluded.

Once the house is completed, the Slaydons plan to move from their current home in Phoenix to the new house in May.