A Chicago veteran’s home got a much-needed facelift Wednesday.
Alexandria Milner spent three years in the U.S. Army. During her service, she had two children with a fellow soldier.
When he was killed, they weren’t married, and after her honorable discharge she ended up homeless.
The Veteran’s Administration set her up with a home in the city's West Pullman neighborhood, but it was hardly livable.
The house had nothing – no couch, no kitchen table. Milner had a box spring for her bed, but her children were forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor.
The Jesse Brown VA Medical Center contacted a Detroit-based non-profit called Humble Design to let the group know about her family’s situation.
That’s when the organization, working with CB2 and U-Haul, stepped in.
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They set up a delivery for Wednesday morning to bring her what so many take for granted.
“We can’t, you know, sit and eat dinner, really sit on the couch and watch a movie, you know, things like that, that a family would do, so it’s a blessing,” Milner said.
Volunteers arrived in the morning to clean the entire house, planning to move in the furniture and home décor once the home is spotless.
Milner is the 17th Chicago resident to get this kind of home makeover from Humble Design – a change that will without a doubt improve the quality of her family’s life as she searches for a job.
She’s hoping to land a gig in nursing, or somewhere in the health field. Whatever it is, she said it will have to pay enough for care for her children Major and Daniella.
Milner said with Wednesday’s makeover, things finally feel like they are going her way, and she feels supported and ready to succeed.
