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Volunteers help transform life of Navy Reserve veteran in Charlotte

By Gina Esposito, wsoctv.com
By Gina Esposito, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dozens of volunteers gathered Thursday to help improve the home and life of a Navy Reserve veteran and his fiancée in west Charlotte.

More than 50 area Home Depot associates partnered with Veterans Path Up to transform a rent-to-own home for Dane Bellamy.

[PHOTOS: Volunteers help to transform life of Navy reserve veteran in Charlotte]

Bellamy joined the Navy Reserve and found his calling in the Naval Honor Guard, which provides honors for fallen veterans. Bellamy hoped to serve in Afghanistan and volunteered for missions but never received hard orders. During his final years in the service, he earned an associate culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University.

Despite having a degree and a job at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, Bellamy has faced financial hardship and has been unable to maintain housing for himself and his fiancée. The couple saved money to rent a home on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Volunteers worked on a number of projects to fix up the home, including installing new siding, painting the interior of the home and landscaping.

The couple will move into the new home and Bellamy will return to Johnson & Wales University to earn his bachelor’s degree in food service management. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the home is set for May 24.

Veterans Path Up is set to open chapters in six cities:

  • Richmond, Virginia
  • Dallas, Texas
  • Houston, Texas
  • Jackson, Mississippi
  • Cary, Indiana
  • Detroit, Michigan

Founder Ken Lacy hopes his group can improve communities and help more people like Bellamy who have fallen on hard times.

"The military has done so much for me,” Bellamy said. “I wouldn't be able to get this house if it wasn't because I was a veteran."

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