Purple Heart Awardee Accepts Keys To New Home from Operation: Coming Home and Mattamy Homes

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Jul 21, 2021, 09:00 ET

North Carolina resident SSgt. Matthew Polizzi and his family took ownership of the Raleigh home built and donated to honor his 14 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps

CARY, N.C., July 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Operation: Coming Home and Mattamy Homes arranged for a flyover and military parachutists as part of a celebration that presented keys to SSgt. Matthew Polizzi and his family for their donated new home.

At the July 15 ceremony, the former Marine Corps drill sergeant and his family took ownership of the custom-built Hero Home 23 in Mattamy's Oak Park community in Garner, North Carolina.

Operation: Coming Home and Mattamy Homes arranged for a flyover and military parachutists as part of a celebration that presented keys to SSgt. Matthew Polizzi and his family for their donated new home. (CNW Group/Mattamy Homes Limited)

Last March, a flag-raising ceremony paid tribute to the veteran and his family, who have moved eight times in 10 years during his 14 years in the Marine Corps.

"We've moved around so much, so it will be really nice to be able to have the kids in one school and not have them moving around to different schools all the time and somewhere where they can have their own bedrooms," Polizzi told Raleigh's ABC11.

In 2010, during one of his four deployments, the then-infantry platoon sergeant and his unit came under heavy fire while on patrol in Afghanistan. As he was fashioning a bomb that would ultimately save his unit, he was shot in the leg. After five weeks of treatment, he returned to complete his deployment, the television station reported.

"We owe SSgt. Polizzi and his family enormous gratitude," said Bob Wiggins, president of Mattamy Homes' Raleigh Division. "We're honored to present this home, for free, to a member of the armed services who has paid so much on our behalf."

Other speakers who voiced their appreciation to Polizzi and his family included Richard "Dicky" Gephart, first vice president of the Homebuilders Association of Raleigh-Wake County; Sig Hutchinson, Wake County commissioner; Lt. Gen. Walter Gaskin, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and other members of the HBA and from the developer and builder teams.

During the presentation of the keys, a band played on the homesite adjacent to the Polizzis', which is located near Raleigh's White Oak area in Garner, NC. Mattamy selected the site, while the family chose design features.

The homebuilder customized the Polizzis' Evelyn-Craftsman model home with a special alcove for the family's Marine dogs, Olive and Famous; bunk-bed rooms with a built-in desk for the couple's three young children; and a garage lined with an American flag mural. The home also includes a screened-in porch and a study that will include Polizzi's military memorabilia.

Building materials, land, labor and a garage full of gifts for the Polizzi family were all donated. A Mattamy Homes team, alongside veterans and trade partners, helped lay sod and handled the installation of the garage.

The Polizzi's home is the second home Mattamy has donated to Operation: Coming Home. The latest contribution marks the 10^th such home from the Royal Oaks team, which Mattamy acquired in 2017.

About Mattamy Homes

Mattamy Homes is the largest privately owned homebuilder in North America, with 40-plus years of history across the United States and Canada. Every year, Mattamy helps more than 8,000 families realize their dream of homeownership. In the United States, the company is represented in 11 markets—Dallas, Charlotte, Raleigh, Phoenix, Tucson, Jacksonville, Orlando (where its U.S. head office is located), Tampa, Sarasota, Naples and Southeast Florida. In Canada, its communities stretch across the Greater Toronto area, as well as in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. Visit www.mattamyhomes.com for more information.

About Operation: Coming Home

Operation: Coming Home is a partnership of the Cary, North Carolina-based U.S. Veterans Corps, the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County and other Triangle-area nonprofits and businesses. Composed of veterans and non-veterans, the team honors the sacrifices of the wounded veterans of Middle East conflicts by building homes for them at no charge. For more information, visit www.operationcominghome.com.

SOURCE Mattamy Homes Limited