ATLANTA (November 10, 2023) – In celebration of Veterans Day, The Home Depot Foundation is growing its mission to serve those who served through an updated commitment to invest $750 million in veteran causes by the end of fiscal year 2030. The Foundation announced today it surpassed $500 million invested in veteran causes to-date since 2011, meeting its previous financial commitment two years early. Through this incremental $250 million, the Foundation, its nonprofit partners and Team Depot, The Home Depot’s associate volunteer force, will focus primarily on affordable housing issues and impact an estimated 50,000 veterans.
“The Home Depot and The Home Depot Foundation have a long history of living our values by giving back to the heroes who have selflessly served our nation,” said Ted Decker, chair, president and chief executive officer of The Home Depot. “We achieved our goal of investing half of a billion dollars in veteran causes two years earlier than expected because of the tireless efforts of our nonprofit partners and our associates who give back year-round through Team Depot. Our mission is not complete while there are still veterans who lack an affordable and reliable place to call home – that’s why we’re growing our commitment to $750 million by 2030.”
According to the Housing Assistance Council, nearly a quarter of all veteran-owned homes (approximately 1.76 million homes) are more than 60 years old, and 1.6 million veteran households report difficulty entering their home or accessing the kitchen, bedroom or bathroom. In addition to facing inadequate housing, more than 33,000 veterans are experiencing homelessness, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Funding from the Foundation to its network of national and local nonprofit partners will focus on tackling these issues by reducing the cost of housing for veterans, helping them access housing and ensuring they are able to age in place in their own homes.
As part of this investment milestone, the Foundation is also awarding more than $14 million in new grants to veteran housing nonprofit partners like Habitat for Humanity International, Volunteers of America and Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors. With these grants, the Foundation and its partners aim to enable more than 800 critical home repairs for veterans over the next year, provide more than 500 units of housing for at-risk veterans and support the construction of five new mortgage-free smart homes for combat-wounded veterans.
Through its annual Operation Surprise campaign, which runs through Nov. 20, the Foundation and Team Depot are bringing service and moments of surprise to our nation’s veterans by:
- Surprising three veteran families by fully paying off the mortgages on their homes, helping them age in place and build generational wealth.
- Covering December housing payments for more than 500 veterans, including those exiting homelessness or at risk of homelessness.
- Issuing $875,000 in surprise grants to more than a dozen veteran service nonprofits that have partnered with the Foundation for over a decade.
- Completing hundreds of veteran service projects nationwide, giving back to heroes in the communities where Home Depot associates live and work. Since 2011, Team Depot has completed more than 1.5 million volunteer hours in service to veterans.
The Home Depot is proud to have tens of thousands of veterans, service members and military spouses in orange aprons. To learn more about The Home Depot’s commitment to the veteran and military communities, visit homedepot.com/military. Follow #OperationSurprise to see how the Foundation and Team Depot are bringing it home for veterans across the country.
