Detroit Lions Join Forces to Revamp Veteran Housing in Highland Park

NFL stars from Detroit spent Tuesday fixing up a veteran housing site in Highland Park. At 211 Glendale, they tackled paint jobs and yard tasks. They also cleared old flood damage from the aging building.

Lions linebacker Jack Campbell joined the work crew. "Any time it gets presented, I feel like guys jump all over these community service events, cool to see them come out, so I mean we were gonna have to buckle up, so it's gonna be fun," Campbell said, according to WXYZ.

Work spread across the whole site. In the basement, kicker Jake Bates cleared water-damaged items. "There was a flood down and a lot of stuff in this basement, closets and stuff, had been ruined and needed to be thrown out," Bates said during an on-air interview with WXYZ.

The Sam Bernstein Law Firm and Stronger Warrior Foundation teamed up with the players. Chad Audi set up the event, drawing from his 22 years running Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries.

Army vet Talara Adetosoye watched the changes with joy, telling a WXYZ reporter. "I'm actually seeing it in action and motion," Adetosoye added, "Says I do care if you are living, having a decent place to live, up to date, freshly painted."

Terry Almond, who served in the Marines, now calls the building home. "This is great man, this is great," Almond said per WXYZ. "Oh yeah, oh man, the place being painted, you know what I mean, they did some stuff with the wall, sort of some bug-proof stuff." Five months back, Almond moved in after sleeping in his car when he left Georgia.

The work struck close to home for Campbell. His stepbrother serves in the Navy, and veterans fill his family tree. "It's just something that's meant a lot to me, it means a lot to me to allow them to know that there's people back here in the country that appreciate everything they do overseas and everything they've been through," Campbell stated to WXYZ. 

These heartwarming repairs and renovations show the love and compassion in the hearts of elite athletes, and those who helped should be very proud of themelves. So should veterans and their nearest and dearest.