Long-time USU Employee Gives Back to Veterans, Others in Need

Uniformed Services University (USU) deputy vice president for External Affairs, and Alumni Affairs director, Sharon Holland, gives back to veterans in need and works to revitalize her community

Sharon Holland, USU deputy vice president for External Affairs, and Alumni Affairs director, has spent the first

two weeks of June helping to build homes for veterans in need every year for the last five years. (Photo credit:

A Soldier's Journey Home)

July 4, 2023 by Sarah Marshall

Ask Sharon Holland what she does on her summer vacation and you likely won’t hear about the beach, national parks, or a trip to Europe. In fact, you won’t even hear about taking time to relax, but the long-time employee and deputy vice president for External Affairs, and Alumni Affairs director at the Uniformed Services University (USU) does have a lot going on when she’s not in the office. And most of it involves helping others.  

Every year for the past five years (except 2020 because of the pandemic), Holland has joined between 130-170 volunteers from across the country to build a home for a combat-injured veteran during the first two weeks of June. The kicker? They build it in only 12 days.

The annual effort is sponsored by a non-profit called A Soldier’s Journey Home. The organization was established by New York firefighters, many of them veterans, as a way to give back to the nation for supporting them in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks. They started out helping at disaster sites, like hurricanes and tornadoes, providing assistance and reconstructing buildings within the communities. After a while, they kept running into the same volunteers, and eventually they formed A Soldier’s Journey Home. The organization builds one home per year for a post-9/11 combat veteran, using volunteers’ vacation time to do so.  

Since they were formally established in 2014, the group has built nine homes – in Tennessee, Illinois, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Maine, Kentucky and North Carolina.  

Each year Sharon Holland (second row, center) joins more than 130-170 volunteers to help build a home for a 

combat-injured veteran. (Photo by Todd Hatfield, A Soldier's Journey Home)

Holland started in 2019 spending her summer “vacation” with the group at the urging of her husband, Joe, a retired Baltimore County firefighter, who joined the group in 2018 when they built a home for a Marine veteran outside of San Antonio. But you won’t find her wielding any hammers or saws.  

“I know my limitations. I started out picking up trash several times a day on the construction site, helping serve meals to the volunteers, helping with administrative tasks, running errands…whatever they needed me to do,” Holland says. Since then, at the request of the organization’s board of directors, she’s taken on managing their communications and marketing efforts to help promote the work they’re doing and in particular, highlighting the volunteers and the generosity of the community members who come out in force to support each build once they hear what’s happening in their town.  

“It’s really touching to see the humanity and generosity that’s out there,” she says. “Last year we detoured from our usual recipient, and built a home for a disabled Army veteran who wasn’t combat-injured, but who lost his home during an F4 tornado that hit just before Christmas 2021. He was a single father of two who lost everything. The entire town – Mayfield, Kentucky – was still devastated six months later when we came to town to build. And, in the midst of all of that destruction and despair, the people in the community stopped by to deliver cold drinks, or to provide lunch to our volunteers, or to offer their construction services for free. I think they saw this one house as a ray of light and one small step towards recovery for the town. I still get choked up when I remember this old man driving up and stopping to ask what was going on, and I told him, and he looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘God bless you all for what you’re doing for our town.’ I almost lost it right there. I think we all wished we could’ve rebuilt the entire town ourselves.” 

After 40+ years at USU, surrounded by so many people making a difference in the lives of others by doing whatever they can, it is ingrained in me. It was the least I could do.

― Sharon Holland, deputy vice president for External Affairs, and Alumni Affairs director at USU

Holland says this year was especially meaningful for her. The recipient was from Boone, North Carolina, which is where her father’s side of the family is from and one of her favorite places to visit.

“My ancestors on my father’s side were among the original settlers in that area. I kept telling everyone I was probably going to be related to a few people, but none of us had any idea how many people. Turns out I was related to the lady at the local convenience store down the hill, the minister at the end of the road, the septic and sewer company owner, a county council member, the guy who did the final home inspection, and even a random stranger with a “Navy Veteran” hat I met who was staying at our hotel who said he was originally from the area. My uncle came and took a tree down on the job site. It got to be a running joke, but I loved every bit of it.” 

The days are long – Holland was there before 6 a.m. every day, and stayed into the early evening – but at the end of the build’s 12 days, the home is partially furnished and decorated and turned over to the veteran recipient in a reveal ceremony. The recipient and family members are not allowed to see the house once the drywall goes up inside, so it’s a surprise when they step inside the house for the first time. Homes are built to be fully handicapped accessible, and are provided to the recipient mortgage-free.  

“It was exciting opening the doors to the finished home for the first time and watching their faces as they stepped inside. It makes it all worth it at that point,” Holland says. 

Now, she says, the focus turns to next year’s build. The recipient and location have been selected, but not yet announced, however, Holland will say that he’s a double amputee who lost his legs as a result of an IED blast in Afghanistan.  

“I had the honor of calling him to tell him he’d been selected. I wish I had recorded the conversation because it was a moment I will never forget, and his reaction was something I would’ve liked to share with everyone else.”  

Although now home from the build, Holland’s volunteer spirit continues. This week she and her husband play host to a group of Boy Scouts who are sailing in the “footsteps” of Blackbeard, the infamous pirate, who spent a lot of time in the area around Holland’s home in North Carolina. 

Highlighting the community is an important part of the festival that Sharon Holland oversees in her hometown 

of Aurora, North Carolina, each year. (Photo by Sharon Holland)

“They’ll sail into the waters behind our house, tie up at our dock, we’ll feed them and then they’ll swim and camp out in our backyard until it’s time to leave for the next stop on their journey,” says Holland. “We’re looking forward to having them all here.” 

Holland will put her volunteer hat on one last time at the very end of the summer to oversee the Aurora Fish and Farm Festival in her hometown. The event is intended to increase tourism in the small town which was decimated over a decade ago by Hurricane Irene. The festival is one of the efforts towards revitalizing Aurora that Holland helps to push forward through the non-profit organization she co-founded, Partnership for Aurora-Richland Township Progress. She also serves as a member of its board of directors and executive director. 

"When I moved here in 2019, one of my neighbors, a recently retired Army major general, was asked by the town leadership to help lead their revitalization efforts. The first step was the development of the town's first strategic plan. He created a group made up of residents throughout the area who volunteered to help draft the plan. I raised my hand because I don’t know how to say ‘no,’ and also because after 40+ years at USU, surrounded by so many people  making a difference in the lives of others by doing whatever they can, it is ingrained in me. It was the least I could do. Our downtown is a ghost town, with crumbling buildings all along its main street, but it's a waterfront community with a lot of potential so I really wanted to help try and bring some life back into it. Since that time, we developed the strategic plan and have been slowly whittling away at it."  

The festival is only in its second year, but Holland hopes it’ll draw even more people this year.

“Eastern North Carolina is built on agriculture, aquaculture, the timber industry, and our waterways. This festival is intended to pay tribute to that heritage and also offer a fun day of family activities. It’s a lot of work getting there, but it’s worth it to see people enjoying themselves in our small town. Maybe they’ll come back again, and that’s the ultimate goal:  helping out community.” Holland says.