Serving Those Who Served Us All

Our nation’s veterans bravely served our country and made great sacrifices to do so.  While serving, the skills and leadership qualities they learn make them valuable assets to communities and businesses. However, veterans and their families can also face major challenges, including housing, unemployment or disabilities. 

Our pledge is to ensure that every veteran has a safe place to call home, and we are committing $80 million over five years to the effort. In addition, our associates are committing their own time and talents to make a difference for veterans in local communities.

In 2012, Home Depot associates completed 550 volunteer projects across the country specifically to help veterans, from building wheelchair ramps and renovating the homes of wounded warriors to repairing and remodeling transitional housing for homeless veterans.

See what Team Depot is up to in 2013! >

From Operation Homefront and Habitat for Humanity to Volunteers of America and the Semper Fi Fund, we are working with some of the nation’s most engaged nonprofits to directly address the housing needs of veterans.

Learn more about our major nonprofit partners. >

• Our Nonprofit Partners >

• Volunteerism >

• Apply for a Grant >

Statistics show that many veterans face severe housing needs sometimes because of a disability from combat injuries or because they’ve been particularly hard hit by the economy and sometimes because they simply can’t find affordable housing. 

• An aging population: 9 million veterans are senior citizens, many of whom live on fixed incomes
• Disabilities: 14% of all veterans have a service-connected disability.
• Low Incomes: Approximately 1.4 million veterans live in poverty.
• Homelessness: Statistics show that veterans are twice as likely to be homeless than those who haven’t served. Veterans represent 8% of the general population, yet they form 16% of the homeless population.

Learn more about the challenges facing veterans.

 The skills learned in the Armed Forces are often directly applicable in the workplace, making veterans highly educated and trained employees for businesses. We know that firsthand — more than 35,000 of The Home Depot’s associates are veterans.

• Leadership & Work Ethic: Proven leadership skills, honed in the most challenging operational environments.
• Top Skills: 92% of active duty military in the United States use computers at their places of duty and 40% of military personnel have job assignments that involve information resource management; 60% of the enlisted personnel can program in at least one computer language.
• Education Level: Almost 33% of young veterans have an associate or bachelor’s degree, compared to 27% of young non-veterans.