Thursday, April 27th 2023, 4:21 pm
A Tulsa veteran and his wife are finally getting a new home four years after their house was destroyed by flooding.
For the last six months, Marine Veteran Curtis Sollars and his wife Connie have been living in this Motel near Mannford. But Curtis says he's ready to go back home.
"They know I want out of this motel real bad," says Sollars.
Their home in west Tulsa was ravaged by flooding in 2019, and with no place to go, they stayed put, until an organization called Recovering Oklahomans After Disaster heard their story and wanted to help.
"For what it would take to fix your house I think we'd be better off building you a new house, and I said, 'plese, thank you.'," says Sollars.
Now the house is almost complete, and a little weather isn't stopping this crew from installing a much-needed septic system.
"Rain or shine we had to accomplish what we're accomplishing," says Jason Birdsong.
He donated the tank and the labor to this project that's been a team effort to give a deserving veteran a place to call home.
"We ended up teaming up with a bunch of people, Habitat for Humanity, Purple Heart Homes, Soldier's Wish, just a bunch of organizations, 28 in all to get this man a brand new house at no cost to him," says
Project Manager Sam Trinity says this has been a tough job, but worth the hard work.
"Man this has been a long time coming and I just cannot wait to see the look on his face," says Trinity.
Because Curtis has mobility issues, the house has an ADA-compliant ramp.
"This whole deck was made by volunteers," Trinity says.
And the whole house has been raised to safeguard against future flooding.
"That's why it's up so high, so if it does flood again he won't have any issues," says Trinity.
For Curtis, this won't just be a new home, it will be a fresh start.
"It's the best thing to ever happen to us in 37 years of marriage this is fantastic, I just can't thank them enough," Sollars says.
Curtis, Connie, and Molly get the keys this Saturday.
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