Notes of Love, Frameworks of Hope

The Langetree Project Unites the Industry to Serve Those Who Served

By Christine Wagner

On a spring day in April in LIBERTY, TX, the unfinished walls of the new Langetree Community Center were covered not in paint or drywall, but in words. 

Volunteers, students, and community members filled the wooden studs with handwritten messages of gratitude and encouragement for veterans—messages that would soon be sealed behind the walls, surrounding their future members with reminders of love and hope.

The Langetree Community Center is a safe gathering space for veterans in the Liberty community, made possible through donations from Operation Finally Home, the Greater Houston Builders Association, and the SBCA Foundation. It’s one piece of a larger vision to help veterans rebuild their lives through training, connection, and healing.

Operation Finally Home’s Notes of Love ceremony marked an important milestone for the Langetree Community Center. The tradition of writing messages of hope and encouragement on the framing before the walls are closed offers a powerful way for the community to surround the community’s veterans with love and support.

With over 150 people in attendance, the event was unforgettable. “You could feel the energy in the room,” says Jess Lohse, SBCA Executive Director. “Everyone there was focused on the same thing: creating a place where our veterans who served our country can come to grow, learn, and get back on their feet.” 

When Operation Finally Home organized the Notes of Love event, Barbara Lange, Owner and Founder of Langetree Retreat and Eco Center, was overwhelmed by the turnout. “The building was filled,” she recalls. “People from everywhere came—students, volunteers, military retirement groups, social agencies. I had no idea the response would be so great. I never dreamed we’d have such a positive effect. It was a goosebumps experience.” 

These veterans all share the challenge of leaving the military and re-entering everyday life. Langetree provides a vital transitional space where they can learn something new, regain stability, and take the next steps toward a new life. 

“I’ve had veterans come back to me after a Notes of Love ceremony and tell me it changed their lives,” says Lee Kirgan, Vice President at Operation Finally Home. “As they’re living in their home, struggling with daily challenges and trying to get back into the swing of civilian life, knowing that those notes are behind the walls brings comfort, calmness, and peace of mind that allows these veterans to get a good night’s sleep and keep moving forward.” 

“The Notes of Love event was really special,” says Jack Dermer, SBCA Foundation Trustee. “It was special because you got to meet the people that will be using this community center and are living there in the tiny homes community and hear their stories. It was good to see that and see they have a place to help rebuild themselves and are helping each other overcome their challenges.”

For Barbara, the ceremony was about more than a building; it was the continuation of a dream that began years earlier, when she first imagined Langetree as a refuge for veterans rebuilding their lives.

From Vision to Collaboration

Behind the Langetree vision is Barbara Lange, a retired social worker whose family’s land has become a sanctuary for those seeking healing and purpose.

Langetree Retreat & Eco Center offers transitional housing, job training, life skills education, and recreational activities to help veterans heal, rebuild confidence, and transition toward independence. The Langetree Community Center will provide a space for these services for its veteran residents.  

For decades, Barbara worked with families and organizations in an effort to achieve “social peace and justice,” helping people from “womb to the tomb,” as she puts it, through education, leadership, and community programs rooted in the environment.

Through several disasters like Hurricane Katrina, Barbara’s retreat acted as a haven for families in need of a place to stay. Her heart for service, combined with a deep connection to her family’s land, made Langetree a natural refuge. “We got a reputation for the fact that if you don’t have a place to stay, you should check with Langetree to see if you can be put up for a day, a week, or even four or five months,” Barbara explains.

Through these experiences, Barbara was introduced to the challenges and needs of homeless veterans and realized that she could provide a place where they could work on themselves and re-entering society after combat, dealing with trauma, and challenges. At the time, the land and the desire to create something special were in place, but no homes. That changed when she learned about the Humble Independent School District (Humble ISD) and the students who build tiny homes as part of their woodshop class.

The tiny home project at Humble ISD started as a hands-on learning experience for students, turning into so much more. The students wanted to continue building tiny homes, but the school didn’t have the funds for it. Operation Finally Home (OFH), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides mortgage-free homes, home modifications, and transitional housing to veterans, first responders, and surviving spouses, saw what these students were doing and wanted to help provide the funds so the students could continue building the tiny homes, making it part of OFH’s transitional housing program. Through a partnership with Lowe’s, a box-store home improvement center retailer, OFH secured a grant that has provided the funds for the materials the students needed to continue building these homes.

Barbara learned through the media that the students were doing great work in making tiny homes with the hope of donating them to homeless veterans, but the homes had nowhere to go. So she took action.

“You don’t know me,” she told Humble ISD leaders over a phone call, “but I live in Liberty County, and I’ve been helping veterans for 20 years with the VFW. You have homes. I have 100 acres. Can we make something happen?” That call changed everything, resulting in Langetree’s partnership with Humble ISD and Operation Finally Home.  

Operation Finally Home’s James Gaylord, Operations Manager, explains that their partnership with Barbara and the Humble ISD quickly evolved from there. The school program building these homes is called “Big Heroes, Tiny Homes,” and it continues to grow, with more students getting involved in building tiny homes for homeless veterans for Langetree. “The houses are set up in pods, circular groups of five to six homes, intentionally designed to create a sense of community within the community,” James says. “But there was nothing really on site to bring everyone together, which is how the community center idea came about. It’s going to be transformational.”

Lee Kirgan agrees. “The whole purpose of the Langetree community is to get the veterans back on their feet,” says Lee. “The tiny home is just one part. You can’t just put the tiny house out there and put the veterans in them, and then walk away. There has to be all kinds of services to go along with this. That’s the role of the community center. It provides a place for them to gather, come for counseling, training, learn, relax, and work together towards a better future.” 

Barbara sees it as an answer to a long-held prayer, and something she didn’t think would ever happen. “The community center is going to be utilized so our veterans can talk to their case managers from the VA system, which is 60 miles away, or take a course in wellbeing, carpentry, or job preparation,” she says. “It’s a space for our residents to come together to eat, to talk, and to be together. It’s also for the 27 agencies we work with so they can provide services for our veterans right here.”

Barbara feels that these veterans need a place to learn daily competences and soft skills, and to unlearn and relearn certain habits, which is exactly why the Langetree Community Center is such an important addition to the retreat. “We call it a ‘transitional housing place’,” says Barbara. “We want to give these veterans hope.” She mentions a particular veteran who was an engineer before serving in the military, but that wasn’t an option for him after coming back. Being at Langetree opened new possibilities for him and he now loves horticulture, planting things, and watching them grow. “The therapy that brings is tremendous to watch,” says Barbara.

“It would be hard to overstate the impact the community center is going to have on that community,” says James. The center will transform the property and take it to the next level with the services Barbara is providing to the veterans. That shared sense of purpose, building structures that rebuild lives, is at the heart of Operation Finally Home’s mission.

Veteran homelessness is a serious issue the United States faces. 
It is an unfortunate situation – many veterans struggle with PTSD, are battling addictions, struggle to find work, may be dealing with physical injuries from service, and other life challenges, all while trying to adjust back into everyday civilian life. It’s programs and work such as Langetree; Big Heroes, Tiny Homes; Operation Finally Home, and so many more that make a difference in these veterans’ lives.  According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs¹, in 2024, there were 32,882 veterans experiencing homelessness on a given night. That’s 32,882 too many.

A Framework for Hope

Operation Finally Home, founded within the Houston building community, continues to draw from the ethos of builders helping builders. “Our organization came from the building industry,” Lee explains. “Once we realized what was needed, we knew the best way to give back was to do what we do every day: build homes.”

That spirit deeply resonates with the SBCA Foundation. “I think it’s important that we give back to the community,” says Jack. “We’ve been lucky enough to succeed in business. The association has helped us grow, and I know other members feel the same way. You reap what you sow. It’s important to give back, and the SBCA Foundation provides an outlet to do just that.”

In 2024 at BCMC in Milwaukee, WI, Lee Kirgan and Jack Dermer were having a conversation about how the SBCA Foundation can get involved with any upcoming projects with OFH. The Langetree Community Center project came up; Jack loved the idea and felt it was a perfect fit for the Foundation.

Spearheading this project with the SBCA Foundation, Jack believed in this community center and understood its importance. “It’s a great project to be involved in,” says Jack. “We are grateful to have contributed to Barbara’s work with veterans in providing the framing, materials, and labor through Operation Finally Home for the Langetree Community Center. It is special to me to be a part of this and to give back through what our industry does best.”

“Working with the SBCA Foundation allowed us to get the structure up, dried in, and completed on the exterior so we can take our time and do the fundraising to get the interior done next,” Lee continues. 

Through the SBCA Foundation’s support and partnership with Operation Finally Home, the community center project at Langetree came to life. The SBCA Foundation exists to help with projects just like this, and to extend the industry’s impact beyond the jobsite. “This project really encapsulates what the Foundation is about,” says Jess. “It’s about using our collective skills and resources to build something that changes lives. The community center at Langetree is a perfect example of what can happen when compassion meets craftsmanship.” “This isn’t just about framing a space for veterans to exist in,” continues Jess. “It’s about framing a new chapter for each of their lives.” 

What’s Next?

The Langetree Community Center is still underway, with Operation Finally Home continuing to raise funds for the interior buildout, including a large communal kitchen, a laundromat, and classrooms where veterans can learn new skills, receive counseling, and prepare for job opportunities. Meanwhile, students from Humble ISD’s Big Heroes, Tiny Homes program continue to build homes for the veterans. Their craftsmanship, combined with the generosity of builders and donors, is shaping a community that blends education, service, and compassion. “Seeing those students involved gives you hope for the future of our industry,” concludes Jess. “They’re not only learning valuable skills, they’re learning what it means to make a difference through what we build.”

Barbara sees that same spirit. “What we’re doing here with the schools, Operation Finally Home, the SBCA Foundation, and all of the professional builders, shows that you don’t have to do this by yourself,” she says. “There are a lot of people who want to help. You just have to ask.”

For the veterans who will one day fill the community center, the Notes of Love remain sealed within the walls, acting as quiet reminders that they are surrounded by care, hope, and a community that believes in them.

For the members of the structural building components industry, this project represents more than a charitable partnership. It stands as a living example of what this industry does best: building not just homes, but frameworks for hope and new beginnings.  

1. https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/docs/The-State-of-Veteran-Homelessness-2024.pdf

Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for more stories on what projects like these and the students’ involvement mean for building the next generation. For more information on the Langetree Retreat and Eco Center, please visit: langetreeretreatandecocenter.org/. For more information on Operation Finally Home, please visit: operationfinallyhome.org/. For more information on the SBCA Foundation, please visit: sbca.foundation/. To learn more about ending Veteran Homelessness, visit: va.gov/homeless/.