Operation Homefront Provides Veteran Couple With Bridgewater Home

By Matt Wiley

Purchasing a home can be a stressful experience for any family, especially the first one. Luckily for one Wesley Chapel couple, Operation Homefront and Wells Fargo have teamed up to thank them for their service to our country, so they won’t have to worry about mortgage payments, only the memories they’ll make.

On January 27, Michael and Danielle Morlock Barone officially moved into their four-bedroom, two bath, 1,500-sq.-ft. home in the Bridgewater community of Wesley Chapel, located off Curley Rd. While there might still be boxes lining the walls and filling the garage, the couple says that they’re thrilled to have the first home they can call their own. “This is our first home that’s an actual house and not an apartment or military dorm,” Michael says. “It’s super nice. It’s more than we expected and more than we ever could have imagined. It’s like a brand-new home.”

Built in 2006, the home was a foreclosure that belonged to Wells Fargo, which donated the home to Operation Homefront’s “Homes on the Homefront” program, which provides homes free of charge to honorably discharged veterans who have never owned a home.

Operation Homefront spokesperson Jason Moody says that more than 8,000 applications have been received and 450 mortgage-free homes have been awarded to veterans since the program’s inception in 2012, with 130 awarded nationwide in 2014 alone. Once a home is awarded, Moody explains, the veteran or family that moves in must be committed to living in and maintaining the home for at least two years (including paying all applicable taxes and homeowners association fees), after which it is deeded to them.

Michael says that it’s a lot of space to start out with, but that he and Danielle won’t have trouble filling it. What will begin as a computer room and spare bedroom could be transformed into kids rooms.

The computer room will be getting lots of use, Michael says, as both he and Danielle currently are working on graduate certificates in mental health at the University of South Florida Tampa’s campus. The two already hold B.S. degrees in Criminology from the University of Tampa and both plan to officially begin graduate school in the fall at USF to earn their Master of Social Work (MSW) degrees.

Michael and Danielle both originally are from Chicago, but never met while living there. It wasn’t until they both enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and were stationed in Albuquerque, NM, as military police personnel at the same time that they got to know each other. After receiving honorable discharges, they decided to move to Tampa.

“I had come (to Tampa) as a kid a few times, so I felt like I knew a little bit about it,” Michael explains. “We almost moved to California, but it was too expensive. The military showed me traveling and that there’s a lot more to the world than just being ‘home.’”

He says that a veteran first told him about the “Homes on the Homefront” program while the two were attending a kayaking event in Weeki Wachee for the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps provide aid and support programs to wounded vets. Michael says he and Danielle applied and were in the running for another home in Tampa, but didn’t end up being the chosen recipients. Wanting to stay in Tampa Bay, Michael says he saw the home in Bridgewater and they decided to give it a try again.

“I knew Wesley Chapel was right outside of Tampa, so we applied and ended up receiving the home,” he says.

The couple says that they’ve already met some of their neighbors, who dropped off some pies. “We just really want to thank Operation Homefront and Wells Fargo for this opportunity,” Michael says. “It’s the first time we’ve owned a home and we’re going to use it to our advantage and try to give back to the community.”

For more information about Operation Homefront, please visit OperationHomefront.net.