Jim Taylor, center, stands with manufacturing specialist Byron Allison, left, and manufacturing lead Lucas Sloan of Purple Heart Homes on Sept. 30, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — A highly visible project to quickly build a modular home on the National Mall is calling attention to a nonprofit’s mission to secure permanent housing for aging and disabled veterans.
Purple Heart Homes started assembling the 480-square-foot house on Tuesday, with plans to finish it Oct. 5. The new, move-in-ready home will be transported to a lot in Glasgow, Va., according to the organization.
“Crews will take the home from framing to fully finished in just seven days, all in public view on the nation’s front lawn,” said John Gallina, a combat-wounded Army veteran and co-founder of Purple Heart Homes.
Jim Taylor, a 76-year-old Marine Corps veteran who served during the Vietnam War, will be the home’s new owner and occupant. Purple Heart Homes will deed the home to Taylor, with the provision that he cannot sell it for the first five years, said Gallina, who is the chief executive officer.
“I’m looking forward to this. It’s an adventure moving to a new town with new neighbors,” said Taylor, who traveled to Washington, D.C., to see the house as it was being completed at 800 Madison Ave & 7th Street NW.
Taylor currently resides at the Veteran Transitional Housing Program at Fifth Street Ministries in North Carolina, where he also volunteers.
He was selected through a nomination and review process that also considered each candidate’s readiness to relocate.
”Jim’s journey to permanent housing shows what is possible when transitional housing, individualized support and permanent homeownership work together as one pathway,” said Jennifer Gipp, vice president of philanthropy and marketing for Purple Heart Homes.
Veteran Jim Taylor poses with Purple Heart Homes volunteers in the under-construction home on Sept. 30, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Volunteers lift a wall frame into place on Sept. 29, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Volunteers hold a wall frame in place on Sept. 29, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
A Bible verse is inscribed on a floor joist of an under-construction home on Sept. 29, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
A volunteer unscrews hinges earlier used to guide a wall panel into place on an under-construction home on Sept. 29, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Volunteers lift a wall frame into place on Sept. 29, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Volunteers hold a wall frame in place as a brace is installed an under-construction home on Sept. 29, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Purple Heart Homes builds a house for veteran Jim Taylor on Sept. 30, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Taylor was 19 years old when he joined the Marine Corps in 1969, with the assumption that he would be deployed to fight in Vietnam. Instead, Taylor worked stateside for two years managing the military’s supply of equipment and munitions used to fight the war.
He was tasked with managing large amounts of data prior to the advent of computers.
“Information on every bullet, every tank came through our office. We printed the results every day and sent them out to the commanding officers,” Taylor said. “They needed to know about the supply activity of their weapons, and we kept track of that.”
Taylor was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., and attained the rank of corporal. He held the title of electronic accounting machine operator.
When Taylor left the Marines in 1971, he became self-employed, working jobs in carpentry and construction. He spent much of his civilian career working as a builder in Virginia.
But for the past 18 months, Taylor has lived in one of six transitional modular homes on the Fifth Street Ministries campus in North Carolina.
Marine Corps veteran Jim Taylor, right, is congratulated by Paul Cockerham, development manager at Purple Heart Homes, after learning that he was selected to move into a new home built by the organization, which helps elderly and disabled veterans access permanent housing. (Purple Heart Homes)
Taylor is on a fixed income and lost his housing in the Charlotte area. He has struggled to afford a new place.
Fifth Street provides veterans with shelter, case management and help accessing health care, benefits and transportation, the organization said.
Taylor volunteers in the kitchen, which serves dinner to about 65 people each day.
Purple Heart Homes has built and donated a half-dozen modular homes to Fifth Street Ministries as transitional housing for veterans. The organizations have partnered since 2016 to help veterans experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
In addition, Purple Heart Homes has developed more than 30 modular houses and deeded them to veterans in the past five years.
“These homes have been life-changing for veterans who have received them,” Gallina said. “They are designed to be low cost and low impact for the veterans who live in them.”
Jim Taylor exits what will be his new home under construction on the National Mall in Washington on Sept. 30, 2026. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
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