It's the fill

by: Thurman Hart

Fri Dec 05, 2008 at 07:15:00 PM EST

A tract of land on Eagle Avenue in New Milford was found to be unusable last year after the organization had paid $255,000 for the property and broke ground. John Gonsalves, founder and president of the Massachusetts-based nonprofit that constructs specially adapted homes for severely wounded soldiers, said debris was found buried in the dirt — making it impossible to build at that site.

"Somebody dumped fill in there," he said. "There was asphalt and debris in the ground and nothing can be built there. That set us back quite a bit."

Ordinarily, it would be an expensive problem for a contractor to deal with.  One of the things that makes building in Jersey so expensive.  But this land was bought by a non-profit that doesn't have the money to "remediate" the land.  It's heartbreaking to see who the house was meant for:

A quiet boy who loved sports and computers, Gonzalez grew up in the Dominican Republic hearing stories about his grandfather and uncles who served in the military. He dreamed of serving in the U.S. Army. After graduating from high school with honors in 2001, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines because, he said, "They are the most elite."

He signed up on Sept. 10, 2001. A day later, the Twin Towers fell. Gonzalez was in the first unit sent to Iraq. After what happened on Sept. 11, he wanted to do something, he said.

In April 2004, his unit was clearing out homes in battle-torn Fallujah when snipers attacked. Gonzalez was shot in the neck, severing his spinal cord. His recovery, including three years of rehab and treatment in a VA hospital was difficult. He remained paralyzed from the chest down.

With most of his relatives living in New Jersey, Gonzalez decided he wanted to live close to family and near high-quality medical care. Baez contacted various organizations to obtain help for her son. Finally, Homes for Our Troops offered to build a home for him at no cost.

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