McHenry County veterans started getting calls this week letting them know that the household projects they’ve tired to figure out how to pay for – or just get done – now will be.

This is the second year that 30 Days for 30 Vets will pay for those projects – from fixing sagging decks to replacing failing heating and air-conditioning systems.

Created by the people at McHenry’s The Bremer Team – Keller Williams Success Realty in 2024, the program takes nominations for veterans who could use a hand to fix things in and around the house.

“Home is my place of peace,” Dawn Bremer said. “It is my safety and my comfort. These veterans, we were finding that they didn’t have that. They needed repairs that are really costly. This helps us make their homes the peaceful and safe place that they give to us.”

One of those veterans is Luke McArthur of McHenry. A co-worker nominated the 35-year-old U.S. Marine Corps vet to get some help.

He’d met Bremer, as they both volunteered for the McHenry Music Festival, McArthur said, and Bremer told him about the program.

“I told my buddy about it, and he went and [nominated me],” McArthur said.

There were 42 nominations this year, Bremer said, and a team of seven volunteers determined the recipients.

McArthur purchased his house, built in 2003, five years ago. The kitchen flooring is deteriorating, the elevated deck in back has screws popping up and rotting wood, and some of the interior electric work seems to have been redone by a past owner – and not done well.

If he didn’t get help, McArthur said he’d probably just let it continue to deteriorate as other projects get his attention first.

“We are in the figuring-out stage [of what we can do to help McArthur],” Bremer said. “He needs some things in the kitchen and the dining room, and we will see what else we can do.”

With the help of Michael Adams, a Bremer agent and U.S. Marine veteran, the organizers have raised $100,000 in in-kind donations, including from Home Depot and Innovative Home Concepts. In the past year, those two businesses helped one veteran get an updated kitchen and another a new roof among the 30 total projects funded.

The projects requested this year are smaller in size, Bremer said, adding that they still are seeking contractors to help.

Beginning Nov. 1, the veterans getting projects completed will be featured on the 30 Days for 30 Vets Facebook page, and more information can be found at 30daysfor30vets.com. The household projects are done as time and scheduling allows.