ABC7 Salutes Roof Deployment Project keeping veterans warm, dry

TEMECULA, Calif. (KABC) -- For some time U.S. Army veteran Mitch Hawthorne's roof hasn't exactly kept him dry. Every room inside his Temecula house has water damage in the ceiling from a leaky roof.

But under clear, blue skies, Hawthorne is hoping to never have to worry about those problems again.

Thanks to Habitat for Humanity and a group of local contractors, he'll soon have a brand new roof.

"I just feel so fortunate at this point, it's kind of a surprise to me," he said.

It's called the Roof Deployment Project.

"I think it's been two or three years. We've partnered with our platinum contractors, which are the elite contractors in our community, and Habitat for Humanity last year identified veterans, and the whole premise is to give back to those who've given so much for our nation," said Kevin Yates, sales manager at Owens Corning.

Hawthorne isn't disabled and has been out of the Army for more than 30 years. In fact, he wondered whether he should even apply for the new roof.

"Most veterans don't, I think, feel like they deserve it," Hawthorne said. "There are some who gave so much more than I did, so I didn't want to take from them, but they said if you don't do it, it's kind of use it or lose it, so I said let's just do it."