COMMUNITY

Building homes for veterans

Daily News Staff Report

Foxhole Homes broke ground on their first construction project on Rattlesnake Road in Tularosa Saturday morning.

Ted Brinegar the founder and CEO of Foxhole Homes speaks to a crowd of volunteers prior to breaking ground on the company’s first construction project on Rattlesnake Road in Tularosa Oct 3. Foxhole is an Alamogordo based not-for-profit company that is building houses for homeless veterans using renewable and recycled materials. The Rattlesnake Road homes meet or exceed construction building codes.

Foxhole founder and CEO Ted Brinegar said the not-for-profit organization’s mission is to build sustainable, low carbon footprint housing for veterans that require little or no maintenance and uses repurposed materials such as tires, glass bottles, and cardboard to keep construction cost down and to heat and cool the homes keeping utility costs to a minimum.

“When you hear a house is built from dirt and tires it seems sketchy, but when the homes are finished they will look like a southwestern home, but with extra windows facing south,” Brinegar said.

Brinegar’s designs are based on Earthship Biotecture and have been optimized for the unique climate in southern New Mexico.

“We will be working closely with state and local building code officials to demonstrate, that even though we may be using new or different techniques and building materials, that we are meeting or exceeding the intent of the code requirements,” he said.

Volunteers level the ground that will form the footing of Foxhole Homes' first rammed earth constructed house near Tularosa Oct 3. Foxhole is an Alamogordo based not-for-profit company that is building houses for homeless veterans using renewable and recycled materials. The first two projects will be used as a proof of concept to prove that the business model works for housing homeless veterans, and to demonstrate that while the materials and techniques are nontraditional, they meet or exceed construction building codes.

Foxhole’s board of directors is comprised of volunteer experts in construction, earthworks, communications and military veteran affairs.

“One of the ways we keep the cost down is to use volunteers…both as experts to coach and advise as well as covering the biggest expense, manual labor," Retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Darron Williams and Chairman of the Board for Foxhole Homes said. "Using a model similar to Habitat for Humanity, the prospective veteran homeowner volunteers labor as part of the build.”

The first two Foxhole homes will be working models demonstrating the techniques and proving the business model for housing veterans.  Construction is scheduled to run through mid-November.

“Without the support of businesses and individual volunteers we couldn’t make this project happen. The support we have received from the state, county, and local community has been overwhelming,” Williams said. “Housing veterans in a sustainable way while using environmentally responsible techniques is really important to us. Its our way of giving back to those who have given us so much.”

Anyone interested in volunteering with Foxhole Homes for more information on the project, email them at foxholehomes@gmail.com