New, Mortgage-Free Canton Home Donated To Operation Homefront

CANTON, GA — Come Veteran's Day, a military family will be moving into their new home in Canton, all for free thanks to Operation Homefront and Meritage Homes.

Meritage, a leading U.S. home builder, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for an Operation Homefront home located at the Vistas at Towne Mill in Canton on July 1. This makes the 13th home that Meritage will donate to Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit serving America’s military families. Together, Meritage and Operation Homefront will welcome a military family into a brand new, mortgage-free, and energy-efficient home.

The home is a Nicholson C floor plan with 1,933 square feet of well-planned living space, This three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch home will be built in a LiVE.NOW.(R) community called The Vistas of Towne Mill. It will include handicap-accessible options such as wider doorways and zero entry showers. It will also include a two-car garage, private study/flex room, a covered outdoor living area, the M.Connected HomeTM Automation Suite and an array of money-saving features.

Operation Homefront is in the process of reviewing applications from veterans for the home. Operation Homefront will select the recipient for the new home through its Homes on the Homefront (HOTH) program. Families in the HOTH program work directly with Operation Homefront caseworkers and financial counselors to build up savings, reduce debt, and learn the skills to manage their home. Upon graduation from the program, the family will be deeded the home mortgage-free.

The deserving family will be announced the week of Sept. 11. The keys to the home will be presented to the family the week of Veteran’s Day.

This is the seventh year Meritage Homes has built and donated new homes to Operation Homefront, helping provide military families with the foundation to become strong, stable, and secure in communities across the country.

“We are excited to continue our tradition of partnering with Operation Homefront to build a beautiful home for yet another deserving military family,” said Steven J. Hilton, chairman and CEO of Meritage Homes.

Last year, a Meritage home in Commerce City, Colorado was donated to U.S. Army Specialist and two-time Purple Heart recipient Herbert Jackson and his family.

“We are so grateful for the opportunity to move toward a stronger, more stable, and secure future,” said Jackson.

The HOTH program offers military families the foundation for long-term stability and resiliency. More than 650 military families have been entered into the program and since 2012, Operation Homefront has deeded over 550 homes to military families, at a value of nearly $80 million in home equity.

“We are absolutely thrilled to extend our long-standing relationship with Meritage Homes for the seventh year to place another deserving military family in a mortgage- free home,” said retired Brig. Gen. John I. Pray Jr., president and CEO of Operation Homefront. “We are grateful to the entire Meritage team who shares our commitment to building strong, stable, and secure military families, so they can thrive – not simply struggle to get by – in the communities they have worked so hard to protect.”

For more information about the program, visit OperationHomefront.org.