North Haverhill
Eager to get inside, the family of three parked their SUV and began to get out when they were greeted by a smiling woman, eager to show them through the two large front doors, into a newly remodeled kitchen and up the stairs to the home’s two bedrooms.
It only took a second inside the house before the family was surrounded by bank officials eager to offer congratulations and take promotional pictures before leaving the family to explore their new home.
All the attention isn’t afforded to the average new homeowner, but the Dolans aren’t quite average.
Jeremy Dolan is an Army veteran who was injured during a recent tour in the Middle East. And the home is a gift, courtesy of Wells Fargo and a nonprofit that matches injured veterans to mortgage-free homes.
“It’s amazing. We’re super excited,” Dolan said, after receiving a tour of the house. “We just can’t wait to get our stuff moved in. We’ve been living out of suitcases for the last few months, waiting to get our stuff out of storage.”
Dolan, his wife Kaytlyn, and their one-year-old daughter, Arianna, made the drive to North Haverhill from Roanoke, Va., where they grew up. The family stayed in hotels along the way before arriving in Lincoln, N.H. on Wednesday.
“We were very excited and ready to experience a new era,” said Dolan, who was previously stationed in Tacoma, Wash., but also spent time in Kentucky.
“For us, it’s another change. I mean, we’ve done changes several times,” he said. “It was just another move and we’re excited to experience it.”
While the home comes mortgage-free, that doesn’t mean Dolan didn’t pay. He enlisted in the Army after high school with the hopes of joining special forces, served two tours in Afghanistan and injured his shoulder in an airborne operation in 2015.
“When we were dating he wanted to be a Ranger,” said Kaytlyn Dolan, who met her husband in middle school.
She has family in Vermont and the Boston area and visited New England during the winter and went snowmobiling on an uncle’s property.
“I grew up in the South and all we had was four-wheelers. And so, to me, it was like equivalent to riding four-wheelers on the snow,” she said. “I thought it was so much fun. I thought I was so cool riding on them.”
Kaytlyn Dolan was initially apprehensive when her husband enlisted. A job in the special forces isn’t easily obtained, she said, and she worried he would be disappointed if he didn’t make the cut.
But it became clear quickly he had the chops to become an elite Army Ranger, Kaytlyn said. And after an initial tour as an infantryman, he was presented with a Ranger contract.
“He accomplished everything he wanted to from when we were first dating,” she said. “He said ‘I’m going to be a Ranger. That’s what I want to do’ and he did it.”
Dolan couldn’t continue his military career with his injury, however. And while he was applying for an insurance claim, an advocate mentioned the family might qualify for a house.
“At first we didn’t believe it. We we’re like ‘No, there’s no way,’ ” Dolan said.
But two months after filing an application with the Military Warriors Support Foundation, the Dolans got the call about a home in North Haverhill.
“We don’t just give them the key and say ‘Have a good life,’ ” said Sandy Ignaszewski, who works at the foundation to help families transition.
Homes are chosen that allow veterans to be close to family, access Veterans Affairs benefits and other support systems, Ignaszewski said.
After the move-in date, families are given a mentor to help with finances for three years, when they receive the deed.
Of the more than 700 homes turned over to vets, Ignaszewski can only name a handful that were returned.
But military families can still use the assistance, she said.
“There are going to be a lot of challenges to this family. There are for all veterans returning from combat, trying to find their place in the world,” she said.
Of the 3.6 million people who served during “Gulf War era II” conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, about 5.7 percent of the male service members were unemployed in 2015, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
More than 6 percent of women veterans also come home from tours unemployed.
In 2011, Prudential Financial polled about 2,400 veterans on economic issues and found 69 percent of veterans said “finding a job” was the greatest challenge in their transition to life as a civilian.
The Dolans’ new home was obtained by Wells Fargo in a foreclosure last March, according to town assessing records.
The big bank and mortgage company has gifted more than 300 homes to veterans since 2012, but has come under intense scrutiny recently, after it was found that branches were opening additional accounts in customers’ names unsolicited.
“It is correct that homes donated for veterans are properties that Wells Fargo holds due to foreclosure,” spokeswoman Briana Curran said in an email on Thursday. “However, we are not able to share any private customer information, so we can’t discuss details about the property.”
But for the Dolans, the house is a step toward a long future in the Upper Valley.
Jeremy Dolan is now working online to obtain a degree in business management, while Kaytlyn is nearing completion of a master’s in early childhood education.
In the immediate future, the two hope to find time volunteering and preparing for the birth of their son, who is due in May.
As she looked out to the front yard on Thursday, Kaytlyn spoke of how she liked the large doors and windows near the entrance.
“I like that. I want open and light,” she said. “It makes the atmosphere more happy.”
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.