In honor of the Operation Homefront kickoff this week, we have a KU student who received a very generous donation from this foundation and wishes to share her story. Take a look:
“My name is Nicole Ruiz and I am a KU Accounting student and President of the Student Government Association at the West Palm Beach campus. I am married to Chris Ruiz and together we have 2 daughters, Marissa and Isabel. My husband is a disabled United States Air Force veteran who was medically retired after 15 years of distinguished service.
My first year at Keiser I attended a Leadership Distinction Seminar for military students, where I met Simone Hoover, from Operation Homefront. She came to speak to us about our personal budgets, financing, and life after the military. She mentioned what Operation Homefront does and how they help military families, like their program called “Homes on the Homefront” that provides mortgage free housing to military veterans. I went home that day and looked this program up to talk it over with my husband, and a week later we decided to enroll. Within a week, a house in Wellington showed up on the list of available homes, so we filled out the necessary paperwork and a case worker was assigned to us to make sure we had everything we needed for the application process.
Three weeks later, we found out that we had not only been chosen to receive the house, but found out that it was a Tim McGraw house! This meant that my entire family and I got to meet Tim McGraw and stay for his private concert as well as the regular concert- it was a blast! After months of waiting for the house to be ready to move in, on November 13, 2013, we were handed the keys and finally able to go see our house for the first time.
Having this house the last year has taken a great deal of stress off of us financially. It allowed us to travel this summer and see places we have never seen. It by far has been my family’s best year for vacations. Having this house has also allowed me to stay a full time student and for my husband to fully retire honorably. Having this house has changed so many things for our family and we will forever be grateful to Operation Homefront and Keiser University for making this all possible.”
-Nicole Ruiz
Thank you so much Nicole, for sharing your heartwarming story about how Operation Homefront impacted your life. I wish you and your beautiful family all the best, and a very happy holidays!
As always students, if you want to share something on ELSE, or have any questions or comments, feel free to email me. I would LOVE to hear from you!
Your fellow KU student,
My instructors believed in me. They were more than instructors, they tried to get to know you as a person and tried to understand your goals so they could push you towards them. Student services helped me find a job before I even graduated. Everyone was dedicated to my overall success.
