Housing for Wounded Warriors

Abstract

The treatment of veterans with disabilities has a long history. Contemporary American practices reflect a mix of traditional policies, demands of an all-volunteer army and new paradigms in community integration. The U.S. military encourages soldiers with disabilities to remain in active duty by providing job accommodations, including accessible housing. The Wounded Warrior Home Project built two demonstration homes in Fort Belvoir, Virginia to learn how universal design strategies could improve housing for these service members.  Guided tours and semi-structured interviews were used to assess the effectiveness of the designs and identify shortcomings. Based on the interviews, recommendations were made to improve the design of future homes for active duty soldiers with disabilities and their families. Reflections on the origin, implementation and impact of the project offer new insights into housing for soldiers and veterans with disabilities and universal design as currently conceived.