A dedication ceremony marking the upcoming opening of a housing development for wounded veterans is scheduled for Sept. 11, serving as a nod to the ongoing impacts of the terror attacks on their 25th anniversary, as well as the wars that followed.
Located off North 60th Street in the Raven Oaks area of northern Omaha, the Dunham House is being lauded as a first-of-its-kind facility, providing housing for combat-wounded veterans in need of long-term residential-centered care.
The 27,000-square-foot development will include housing, amenities, and wraparound care to accommodate 30 veterans on an 8.5-acre parcel in a 40-acre neighborhood center.
The $14-million project was paid for completely by private money, according to reporting from WOWT, with businesses, community organizations, banks, and individual donors coming together to foot the bill.
Retired from the US Marine Corps., Col. John D. Folsom has spearheaded the project through his nonprofit Wounded Warriors Family Support. He said he was inspired to do so after visiting a veteran who had suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as the result of an improvised explosive device in Iraq.
“What came to my mind as I watched this scene unfold is ‘What will happen to him in his life when his mother is no longer able to take care of him?’ I thought, ‘He’ll probably go to a regular assisted-living center,’” Folsom told the Military Officers Association of America.
“A lot of these veterans who have TBI are relatively young, and if they end up going to an assisted-living center, the folks there are not going to be anywhere near their age, and they’re certainly not going to have the shared experiences.”
The facility is named for Corporal Jason L. Dunham, who died in April 2004 after jumping on a grenade to save the lives of those around him during a deployment in Iraq, as described on the Dunham House website and in Dunham’s Medal of Honor citation.
According to WOWT, Wounded Warriors Family Support officials hope to begin receiving residents of the Dunham House in early 2027.
