The community of Whitestown gathered on Nov. 8 to celebrate the welcoming of U.S. Navy Petty Officer Second Class Robert Orr and his family to the community as a part of the PulteGroup Built to Honor program.
– Photos courtesy of the Town of Whitestown
Orr served eight years in the Navy as a military police officer before submitting his paperwork to continue his career in the Navy when he was diagnosed with a service-connected autoimmune disease that causes his body to be unable to regulate its temperature. Orr received his diagnosis while stationed at the Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan. The autoimmune disease results in his body overheating, breaking out in hives or passing out due to heat, and Orr was discharged in March 2023.
Orr, his wife Adiame and their two children are now planning to relocate from San Diego to Whitestown due to its relatively cooler climate compared to California. Whitestown officials stated that the town also sports close proximity to a large Ethiopian community with one of the nation’s top immune disease physicians.
The Orr family was invited to the Bridle Oaks community in Whitestown under the guise of participating in an interview during the selection process for a new, mortgage-free home through the Built to Honor program. Following the interview, Scott Mairn, PulteGroup Division President, and the PulteGroup team led Orr and his family out of the model home where his interview was held to face a cheering crowd of community members, and the team announced that the Orr family had already been selected for the program.
“It’s an honor to welcome your family into the Pulte family and to the Town of Whitestown,” Mairn said. “The Built to Honor program with Pulte Group has been giving back to the nation’s veterans for over a decade. We have been working and built over 80 homes for combat, wounded or service illness veterans around the country.”
Mairn continued to state that the Built to Honor program was created for the exact circumstances that surrounded the Orr family, and he expressed that hearing Orr’s story and witnessing the first steps of the program in motion was a life-changing experience for the PulteGroup team as well as the Orr family.
“Giving Petty Officer Second Class Orr and his family the surprise of a lifetime is one of the most unforgettable and rewarding moments our team has experienced,” Mairn said. “We know that having a home to call your own can be one of the most profound challenges facing wounded veterans when they come home.”
Mairn continued to express that meeting Orr and experiencing his excitement at the new opportunities
that will be available for him and his family in Whitestown created an atmosphere of passion, excitement and care that he had yet to fully experience as the Orr home will be only the second home built through the program in Indiana.
“The fact that the quality of life that he’s going to be able to live here in Indiana is going to be that much better than it is where he is today, which is in California,” Mairn said. “To listen to the passion and the energy in everything when he talked about his service to his country and the brotherhood–he used many times–it was inspiring.”
Mairn concluded his statements by commenting that Orr deserved the opportunity to receive a new home as a small means of giving back after he dedicated himself to the country before his diagnosis.
“It’s the culmination of sacrifices that Petty Officer Second Class Robert Orr made for our country, and what changed due to his illness that occurred while serving our nation,” Mairn said. “We want to welcome you to the PulteGroup family.”
Nathan Messer, Whitestown Director of Operations and Economic Development, commented that the Orr’s chose a booming community to join in Indiana, and he wished the family luck in their new chapter of their lives.
“For the past 12 years, we’ve been one of if not the fastest growing community in Indiana,” Messer said. “A large part of that is due to Pulte. Pulte has built a lot of homes here in Whitestown–a lot of great homes, great communities.”
Built to Honor is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and Eric Nichols, Whitestown Town Council President, commented that Orr is the epitome of those who deserve to be rewarded by the program.
“We are honored to extend our heartfelt welcome to Petty Officer Orr, a true American hero, and his family, as part of PulteGroup’s Built to Honor program,” Nichols said. “His bravery and
sacrifice are not just acknowledged in our community, but deeply cherished. We wish the Orr family a new chapter filled with the love, support and kindness they deserve.”
The Built to Honor program is in collaboration with Operation Homefront, a national non-profit organization that strives to build strong and stable military families that will thrive.