Nonprofit gifts local retired combat veteran with new home in Rio Rancho

RIO RANCHO — As far as retired Army Sgt. David Halona is concerned, the Rainbow Canyon home he will soon move into might as well be registered as a religious site so he can be tax-exempt.

Halona, 39, made the joke during an interview last month after reviewing the home’s framework, which included the handwritten inscription of a Bible verse: “You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.”

Halona saw the inscription as he read “Notes of Love,” a tradition put on by Building Homes for Heroes, a New York-based nonprofit that gifts homes to veterans like Halona all across the country. Halona is only the third New Mexican to be a recipient of a home since the organization’s founding in 2001. Representatives from Building Homes for Heroes and builders were on hand April 22 to provide Halona the small handwritten notes.

“I appreciate every one of them,” Halona said.

His future home is still under construction, but Building Homes for Heroes is expecting a gifting date of mid-July, a spokesperson for the organization said.

Halona, a descendant of the Navajo Code Talkers who assisted U.S. forces with secret messages on the battlefield during World War II, enlisted in the U.S. Army at a Gallup recruiting station in January 2004. Halona served as an intelligence analyst and a motor transport operator during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn, where he sustained multiple physical and physological injuries. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Army Good Conduct Medal and the Global War On Terrorism Service Medal. Halona was honorably and medically retired from the Army in January 2016.

Halona reflected on his service in an interview by suggesting it could have been much different had he not been in combat. He is still haunted by questions about how he survived multiple missions.

“One time, there was a squad I was sharing, and everyone else didn’t make it,” Halona said. “That bugs the crap out of me.”

As he drew close to retirement, military officials suggested Halona apply to Building Homes for Heroes. David Weingrad, director of communications for Building Homes for Heroes, said Halona applied to the organization’s program, and he was selected following an interview process.

“The more we got to know David and his family, the more we realized this is the perfect fit for him in Rio Rancho because of his local roots (and) his service and sacrifice to our nation,” Weingrad said. “This is our way of saying ‘Thank you.’”

The Rainbow Canyon home is a 1,896-square-foot, four-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch-style home built to accommodate Halona’s medical needs. Pulte Built to Honor Group will fully furnish the home, which will include wide doors, comfort-height toilets and counters; specially decorated rooms for Halona’s children and other custom features. Halona applauded the homebuilders’ efforts as “on point.”

Like Weingrad, Jenice Eades, director of procurement for the New Mexico division of Pulte Homes, was also on site in Rio Rancho in April. She said partnering with Building Homes for Heroes fit in with her company’s longstanding effort to build homes for veterans.

“We were just excited to build a home for (Halona),” Eades said. “We reached out to all of our trade partners, and so many of them are willing to donate materials and service to give back to someone who has given so much to our country.”

Halona, the father of three children, including one young adult with his sights set on military service, will move into the home this summer from Albuquerque. Building Homes for Heroes will host a welcoming ceremony for him and his family at that time.

Halona was a commercial truck driver before putting the brakes on his profession to go into vocational rehabilitation.

Although Halona does not consider himself a hero, he doesn’t mind the recognition.

“I’ll let people perceive what they want to perceive,” Halona said. “If they put that on me, that’s cool; that’s an honor.”