Grand Prairie veterans receive gift of home renovation

GRAND PRAIRIE (1080 KRLD)- A couple in Grand Prairie who both served in the U.S. Army moved into a home with renovations to make it more accessible this week. Expo Home Improvement is based in Carrollton, and this is the seventh year the company has provided a home renovation near Veterans Day.

"We are so honored to just be able to love on these people," says Expo Home's Sarah McDaniel. "It's about the bathroom, and it's about Veterans Day, but it's just about loving people."

Kristin and Manual Chavez met while serving in the Army. Kristin was stationed at Fort Knox eight years in the Army Reserves; Manual was deployed to Iraq twice.

In Iraq, Manual Chavez suffered physical injuries, a traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress.

This week, the "Expo Home Heroes Program" renovated their master bathroom to allow more space to move around safely and make the shower more accessible.

"I don't have any words," Manual Chavez said as the finished bathroom was revealed to them. "It's amazing."

"We never thought, just serving our country, we would be nominated for something like this," Kristin Chavez said. "Local companies really do appreciate veterans."

The couple live in the home with their kids and now have careers outside the military. They say a gift like the bathroom can help veterans still affected by war know others remember their work.

"To know they think of us even after we served is very appreciated," Kristin Chavez says. "This is going to make it feel a lot more like a home and very comfortable for us. We completely appreciate this. It's huge for us."

Expo Home Improvement's McDaniel joined other employees lining the hallway and stairs cheering as the couple walked in.

"I have been doing this for years, now, with my team, and every year, it's a brand new feeling again," she says. "It's just so exciting."