Army veteran Joe Stephens spent nearly 11/2 years living in his car, parking at night near an Interstate 294 suburban Chicago rest area.
The 59-year-old auto mechanic who grew up in the south suburbs had fallen on hard times when he was hospitalized for two months at the Hines Veterans Hospital in Maywood after undergoing surgery to repair a twisted colon. During that time, he said he lost his job and his home.
“All it takes is one bad incident like that and it puts you upside down,” said Stephens, who now lives in a remodeled Oak Lawn condominium, partly thanks to a fellow veteran.
Stephens is living in a house remodeled by Kirby Atwell, a former Army officer from the south suburbs who wants to change the lives of fellow veterans by helping them into affordable homes.
Atwell, who grew up in New Lenox and graduated from Lincoln-Way High School in 2000, in June officially launched Green Vet Homes.
Atwell, a graduate of West Point Academy, left active duty in 2011 after serving overseas in Japan.
Once home, he partnered with longtime friends, John and Janelle Swiercinsky, to form iCandy Homes, a Mokena-based real-estate investment company that flipped more than 70 homes in the Chicago area over the last four years.
But earlier this year, Atwell began thinking about selling his portion of the business and pursuing his own, one with “more purpose than just flipping homes.”
“I wanted to help in a bigger way,” Atwell said.
He and his wife, Taryn, who works as the community relations director at Lincoln-Way District 210, had talked at length about the possibility of Atwell pursuing his own operation.
“It was something we talked a lot about. We both felt it was right. She’s an awesome supporter of mine,” Atwell said. “I knew that I would eventually want to run something of my own.”
Green Vet Homes rehabs homes by creating as little waste as possible and using sustainable fixtures when possible, Atwell said. It also is providing housing for those who served in the military.
Atwell is working with HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, which provides rental assistance for homeless veterans, to find ex-soldiers who are in need of an affordable place to live.
The condo in Oak Lawn had belonged to a hoarder who was kicked out after Village of Oak Lawn officials were forced to step in, Atwell said. The hoarder then sold the property to him.
Atwell has another project in Country Club Hills and potentially will have a third in Richton Park.
Stephens, the first person to live in a home remodeled by Atwell, said Atwell is “such a good guy.”
Stephens said he is “still pinching himself” over the beautifully-remodeled home, which he is renting and plans to stay in indefinitely.
The home features some amenities, including a dishwasher, which he has never had before, Stephens said.
“It’s been wonderful, now,” he said.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
