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The Home Depot Foundation Supports Veterans at Camp Salute

CLAYTON, NJ—In March 2019, the People for People organization received a Home Depot Foundation Grant for $76,000. The funds will be used to install a generator in the Veterans Resource Center at Camp Salute and The Victory Garden at the Camp Salute Affordable Housing Complex located in Clayton, NJ.

In 2018, the People for People Foundation opened the doors to The Camp Salute Community, a 76-unit apartment complex built with a veteran and veteran surviving spouse preference. The project was a joint venture between the People for People Foundation and Conifer Realty, LLC to provide permanent housing to low to moderate income families with a Veteran Preference. It is the first and only community in the United States built to provide permanent housing to veterans, their families and the surviving spouses of veterans and on site full social and veteran services.

Included within the Camp Salute property, the People for People Foundation is headquartered in the Community Center which also houses the Veterans Resource Center. The Home Depot Foundation grant will provide funding to install a generator which will provide emergency electric power during outages and storms.

According to Bernadette Blackstock, the President of the People for People Foundation states: “The People for People Foundation is taking the lead for the Gloucester County Community Organizations Active in Disaster (GCCOAD) and the Camp Salute building will serve as the headquarters and staging location for volunteers during major disasters under the direction of the Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management. The generator is essential for us to provide this service to the County and we are so grateful to Home Depot.”

The funding from The Home Depot Foundation along with material donations from Quikrete/Pavestone and the The Scotts Company will be used to build The Victory Garden which will consist of a bricked sitting area, vegetable garden, a butterfly flower garden, fruit trees and other plants. Also, Rolling Thunder is placing the POW/MIA Never Forgotten “Missing Man Chair” honoring veterans who have not returned.

Blackstock adds, “The garden project will be integrated into our ‘Life Skills to Move Veterans to Self-Sufficiency’ initiative. This holistic training program that is offered for free to all South Jersey Veterans, provides a series of classes that address everything from computer training to employment and entrepreneur assistance, to health, nutrition and financial workshops. The garden will be an inspirational place for our residents and veterans to find tranquility and peace and learn about gardening.