Local veteran Matthew Krumwiede sacrificed much in the name of freedom when he was injured by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan that resulted in severe internal injuries and a loss of limbs. Krumwiede never let his experience stop him from fully experiencing life in the years that followed and he continues to be an inspiration to other wounded veterans and to everyone who has been impacted by his work with Higher Ground USA as a veteran and first responder alumni coordinator teaching adaptive sports. Earlier this year, the Gary Sinise Foundation took notice of Krumwiede through its R.
I.S.E.
program, which stands for Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment. Since that time, the foundation has been building a smart home for Krumwiede that will accommodate his various needs. In keeping with the R.
I.S.E.
acronym, the space will be accessible and grant a greater level of mobility and freedom for the veteran, all at no cost to Krumwiede. “The R.I.
S.E. program is really all about restoring that independence and supporting empowerment,” said Gib Bosworth, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Gary Sinise Foundation.
“We have built 92 homes and dedicated many of these amazing, we call them forever homes, for these families to move into, mortgage free, as a huge thank you from a grateful nation, a grateful community, a grateful man in Gary Sinise himself and all of us at the Gary Sinise Foundation.” Through the dedicated efforts of the Gary Sinise Foundation, these smart homes are catered to the specific veteran in need and are equipped with accessible features such as extra wide hallways, larger bathrooms with bench seating and large kitchens, often with low-profile counters. Krumwiede’s smart home has now officially hit the halfway mark and a special event was held at the site of the home in Bellevue, the town where Krumwiede currently lives.
An audience of friends, family, supporters and organizational representatives gather in the foundation of Krumwiede's future smart home located in Bellevue. “Today, we gather with the community, the builders, all the subcontractors, our national in-kind partners, we have many dozens of them, who are providing material for these homes all over the United States,” Bosworth said. “Today we bring them all together and they get to meet, in this case (with) Matthew and his family, to be able to meet him personally, talk to him, thank him, interact and then he can do the same with them.
” Bosworth continued, “At the conclusion of the ceremony, (Krumwiede) shared a few words about how amazed he was with everybody who showed up today, (feeling) inspired and encouraged and just so grateful for all of us. And of course, we're turning around and telling him, ‘No, we're really grateful for you’. It's just a lot of gratitude, a lot of smiles, a lot of high fives going around today.
” The halfway ceremony is known as The Walls of Honor and provides an opportunity for friends, supporters and organization representatives to write personal words of gratitude on the studs and beams that serve as the foundation of Matthew’s future forever home. “Then what we all do is we all grab a Sharpie pen or some sort of a big black marker, or blue or yellow or whatever color you want and everybody fans out and writes words of encouragement, a note of appreciation, a thought of love and support to this young man who obviously sacrificed his body for freedom for all of us,” Bosworth said. “That concludes the ceremony and we all take a big group photo and then we're on our way.
We do this for every one of the homes we build across the country. At any given time, we've got about 15 homes in various stages of land search, slabs being poured, land being cleared, midway build and dedication. We do from 7 to 10 of these dedications annually across the United States.
” Work will continue on Krumwiede’s smart home and by the time the house is ready for official dedication, it will be completely furnished with new furniture, dishes, fully stocked cupboards along with other amenities and essentials. Once completed, the public will be invited to the dedication ceremony sometime in May of 2025, though the timeline may shift due to inclement weather or other factors. “What you have here is an incredible example of service over self,” Bosworth said.
“That's an ethos (Gary Sinise) lives by, service over self. These incredible families, friends and so forth, get inspired after they see what we're doing and they go, ‘we're going to help you’. That's a beautiful thing and it just cascades like a domino of goodness.
The community gets energized. We get energized and the country gets energized because they see the humanity of it all and recognize, ‘I could be a part of that by supporting the Gary Sinise Foundation, or specifically, the R.I.
S.E. program.
'" For more information on the Gary Sinise Foundation you can visit its website at garysinisefoundation.org ..
