JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — A local veteran got the shock of her life Thursday when she was surprised with a new home.
Army Veteran Jennifer Andreasen got the key to her home in front of a group of people who helped make it happen. She'll be moving in with her service dog, Eddie.
"It's hard for me to express because there's no words to express that kind of spinny feeling you get on the inside," Andreasen said. "The first thing I thought was, 'I don't know what I'm gonna do with all this space.' The second thing was, 'This is my space now.'"
The new home is from K9s For Warriors and JWB Real Estate.
"Rory came up to me when I was at K9's for training for Eddie and he's like, 'Hey do you want a house?'" Andreasen said. "I'm like, 'I'm sorry, excuse me?!' I want to say that I'm grateful and I'm excited and at the same time I'm kind of nervous because it's new."
It's Andreasen's first house and the first time she won't be living with her parents since her time in the military.
"There's very few times in life when you have these moments when it is so clear that you see your child struggling so long after they've served their country and gone through all of these things," said her mother Patricial Nolan. "To see the number of people that can come behind you and give them a new start and give them a boost of confidence that they needed to find who they were before they got lost."
For Andreasen it's a new start and a new type of freedom after serving and ensuring freedom for her country.
