ShawneeDispatch.com

Two more Shawnee homes will join the company of five that were renovated in the spring, thanks to a new not-for-profit organization.

Rebuilding Together Shawnee is barely a year old, but the group announced this week it has been awarded a $6,000 grant through the Sears Heroes at Home program. The grant will allow Rebuilding Together Shawnee to make critical repairs to the home of a World War II veteran and long-time Shawnee resident, which the organization plans to repair along with a second home this fall.

In conjunction with Rebuilding Together affiliates across 46 states, the Shawnee organization seeks to preserve affordable and independent homeownership by providing free housing rehabilitation services to those in need.

Heroes at Home provides support to military service members, veterans and military families through joint efforts with various nonprofit organizations. Once it found out about the availability of the grant, Paul Arnhold, Rebuilding Together Shawnee spokesperson, said the organization had to identify an appropriate project in Shawnee before making an application.

The organization receives requests for home rehabilitation services through its Web site, rebuildingtogethershawnee.org. Arnhold said the veteran's daughter had seen newspaper stories about the organization's spring rebuilding projects and had already submitted an application for her father's home. The organization was able to request the grant amount specifically based on what the veteran's home needed.

To date, Sears Holdings has raised more than $5 million for Heroes at Home via a nationwide in-store fundraising campaign and a donation of $1 million made by Sears for credit card purchases made at its stores during the holidays.

Since the inception of the program in May 2007, the national Rebuilding Together organization has been able to complete more than 200 housing rehabilitation projects across the country.

Rebuilding Together Shawnee will begin the veteran's home renovation in October, when it also will begin work on another Shawnee housing rehabilitation project.