This summer, Grammy Award winning country artist Tim McGraw will be extending his HomeFront program by awarding 31 mortgage-free homes to deserving veterans and their families. The nationwide program, which was launched last year in a collaborative effort between Chase and Operation Homefront, presented over 30 newly-renovated homes to wounded warriors and service members. This year, the group plans to double their efforts by awarding one home during each one of his 31 tour stops.
McGraw’s connection to the armed forces started at home in the company of many active duty service members. “My sister’s a veteran of the first Gulf War. My uncle was a Vietnam veteran and my grandfather was a World War II veteran,” says McGraw. Since then, he’s always felt “a deep sense of respect and obligation to our troops.”
These endeavors are a part of McGraw’s greater mission to raise awareness and support about issues regarding employment, homeownership, and education. An estimated one million service members are expected to transition out of the military by 2016. With figures as high as these, it’s essential as McGraw points out, to help veterans return back to civilian life as smoothly as possible.
In collaboration with the Homes on the HomeFront program, Chase has committed to provide 100 mortgage-free homes to deserving veterans over the next five years.
“We are grateful to our service members, veterans and their families for their service and sacrifices,” said Frank Bisignano, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Mortgage Banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co. “We are honored to partner with Tim McGraw and Operation Homefront to award mortgage-free homes. It’s a small way to say thank you to people who have done so much to protect our nation and our freedom.”
McGraw’s Two Lanes of Freedom 2013 tour kicked off in Birmingham on May 2 followed by 30 other cities through July. Up-and-coming artists Brantley Gilbert and Love and Theft will also be featured on the tour which will be stopping in West Palm Beach and Tampa next weekend!
Watch Tim McGraw discuss the HomeFront program in a CNN interview here.