Home for our Troops – Ceremony/Escort to Present New Home to Disabled Veteran PO2 Timothy Birckhead
Event Date
07/17/2017
Event Time2:00 pm;
Location
Clearview Regional High School
625 Breakneck Rd
Mullica Hill, NJ
Join Homes for our Troops, the Mullica Hill and South Harrison communities as PO2 Timothy Birckhead is presented with the keys to a new specially adapted custom home provided by Homes for our Troops. Home for our Troops is an organization that works hard to make dreams come true for our disabled veterans! Please come out and show your support for our veteran, PO2 Timothy Birckhead!
ATTENDEES: Meet at Clearview Regional High School, 625 Breakneck Rd., Mullica Hill at 2pm. Shuttle buses will be available and start at 2:15pm to proceed to new home for PO2 Timothy Birckhead, where the ceremony begins at 3pm.
MOTORCYCLISTS – for those interested in participating in the Motorcycle Escort / Procession to take PO2 Timothy Birckhead to his new home, meet at Heritages, 203 N. Main St., Mullica Hill at 1:15pm. KSU 1:45 to procession staging area. (If your Group/MC is going to partake, please email Dennis at dennis@byerselectric.com to let him know so he can add you to list of participants. If youre able to, include number of bikes from your group)
We will be greeted at the new home by ABC TV Show “The View” Crew, along with other local community members and well wishers to present PO2 Timothy Birchead with his new home.
Following the ceremony, dinner will be served/available to all attendees and a public home tour will conducted by 6pm. Questions, etc contact Brianne at BmcNamara@htotusa.org or Community Outreach at coc@hfotusa.org
Timothy Birckhead enlisted in the Navy shortly after graduating from the Bodine High School for International Affairs in Philadelphia in 2000. After serving three years and sailing overseas on the USS Iwo Jima as an air-launched weapons technician, Navy PO2 Birckhead knew he had found a career he loved, and extended his tour of duty.
During his second tour in 2006, Timothy began experiencing pain and weakness in his legs, making walking and running difficult. After consulting with the Navy’s medical unit and weeks of physical therapy, he found no relief or improvement. As a former athlete in high school and a runner on the track team, P02 Birckhead knew that his health was failing when he was not able to pass the Navy’s physical readiness test. Sadly, in October 2007, Timothy was forced to separate from the Navy, relinquishing the job and teammates he had come to love so much over his seven years of service.
In October 2009, two years after Timothy’s military separation, doctors eventually diagnosed him with Hereditary Neuropathy with Liability to Pressure Palsies (HNPP), a condition that affects the sensory and motor nerves. Tim’s case is progressive, and he now has increasing weakness and atrophy in his limbs.
Currently he lives with his mother, Gloria, his primary caretaker. Although Gloria says it is heartbreaking to watch Tim’s health decline, she says her son inspires her every day with his positive attitude and perseverance. “A new specially adapted home from Homes For Our Troops will give Tim quality of life beyond measure,” says Gloria. “It will be a blessing for him to do things on his own and set goals.”
The home Tim currently lives in presents several challenges, stairs being the most difficult. Tim describes the feeling of entering and exiting his home’s stairs similar to that of stage fright; he says having automatic doors and a level doorway will remove this worry and empower him to go outdoors more often. The home from HFOT will allow him to have full mobility in his wheelchair, which he now uses most of the day.
They will be able to stay close to family and the network of support they have at the Bible Way Baptist Church. Together they rely on faith and prayer to overcome their everyday challenges, and say they now have a renewed sense of gratitude in life since they have been welcomed into the Homes For Our Troops family. They say the support they have received so far has been humbling, and reminds them that America has not forgotten the men and women who have stepped up to serve their country.
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