Friends, family celebrate as wounded warrior gets new Fuquay-Varina home

Friends and family celebrated with Sgt. Jimmion Clayton Friday morning as he received the keys to his new Fuquay-Varina home.

The home is part of Operation: Coming Home, a nonprofit program that builds homes for disabled combat veterans who served in the Middle East.

Clayton served in the Army National Guard in Afghanistan when a suicide attack injured him in 2012.

He said the new home is a blessing.

"I feel happy, glad that it is finally over and me and my family...can try to get in and settle into our home," Clayton said.

The volunteer project is a joint effort by the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County, the USO and the U.S. Veterans Corps. They are among the groups that will benefit from the upcoming WRAL Freedom Balloon Festival next weekend.