Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Washington Kastles, JP Morgan Chase and Building Homes for Heroes Give Home to Local Army Family


From our friends at the Washington Kastles...

Local Army Family to Be Recognized at Washington Kastles Military Appreciation Night

Recipient of mortgage-free home from Building Homes for Heroes and JPMorgan Chase & Co. honored during ceremony

On Wednesday, July 26, Building Homes for Heroes, in partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Washington Kastles of Mylan World TeamTennis, will recognize Army Sergeant John Johnson and his family on court during intermission of the Kastles match in celebration of the mortgage-free home Sgt. Johnson and his family received this past May in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

After joining the military in 2000, Sgt. Johnson was deployed to Iraq in 2003 where he volunteered for a mission to help occupy the Baghdad International Airport. After narrowly missing small arms fire multiple times, he was involved in an accident during the refueling of his squad’s vehicles, causing him to accidentally swallow jet fuel. This ingestion immediately poisoned his body and he was later diagnosed with Chemical Pneumonia. His experiences while serving our country have left him with severe PTSD, among other injuries. For his service to his country, Sgt. Johnson has been awarded the Army Commendation Medal and two Presidential Unit Citations.


Since its founding in 2006, Building Homes for Heroes has provided homes and new opportunities to more than 100 families across the nation, while JPMorgan Chase has worked with non-profits since 2011 to donate mortgage-free homes to veterans and their families through its Home Awards Program. 16 of these homes have been provided to veteran families in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. The Washington Kastles, now entering their tenth season as DC’s professional tennis team, have been long-time partners of JP Morgan Chase and national nonprofits dedicated to providing short and long term assistance to military families.

WHEN:
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Doors open 5:15 PM
Match play begins 7:00 PM
* On-court ceremony begins approximately 8:15 PM

WHERE:
Kastles Stadium at the Charles E. Smith Center
600 22nd Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

About Building Homes for Heroes:
Counting ten consecutive years of record-setting growth, Building Homes for Heroes builds and gifts mortgage-free homes, and completes home modifications, for veterans and their families, and provides further services along their road to recovery to help them live a promising and fulfilling life ahead. The organization is strongly committed to rebuilding lives and supporting the brave men and women who were injured while serving the country after September 11, 2001, during the time of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. After gifting 28 homes in 2015, Building Homes for Heroes gifted 29 homes in 2016, including its milestone 100th overall home in November. The organization has its sights set on gifting as many as 36 homes in 2017, equal to one mortgage-free home every 10 days. It's our honor to support the men and women who have loyally and courageously served our country. To learn more about the organization, visit www.buildinghomesforheroes.org.

About the Washington Kastles:
Founded in 2008 by local entrepreneur Mark Ein, the Washington Kastles have six Mylan World TeamTennis titles including five straight from 2011-2015. In 2011 and 2012, they completed the only perfect seasons in the league's 41-year history. In 2013, Washington extended its winning streak to 34 matches, setting a new major U.S. pro sports record. The team's mission is to bring the DC community together, make tennis accessible to everyone in the Greater Washington area and actively support local charitable partners. To that end, the Kastles provide grants, ticket or racquet donations to nearly 200 charitable, military and civic organizations each year and have made over $1.3 million of these donations since its founding nine years ago.

More on JPMorgan Chase’s Commitment to Servicemembers and Veterans:
JPMorgan Chase has supported our veterans since before World War I. The Office of Military and Veterans Affairs (MVA) works closely with the company’s business and consumer-facing facets and with non-profit and government partners to ensure that servicemembers and veterans and their families have access to resources including products and services, employment opportunities, small business and strategic initiatives, and talent acquisition and development.

Since MVA started in 2011, JPMorgan Chase has hired more than 11,000 veterans and facilitated 385,000 veteran hires through the Veteran Jobs Mission coalition; awarded more than 900 mortgage-free homes to military families in need; helped 6,600 veterans and military spouses complete 9,100 career certifications through Veterans Career Transition Program at the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, which was co-founded and is supported by JPMorgan Chase and Syracuse University. Learn more at https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Corporate-Responsibility/military-veterans.htm.