COCOA, Fla. – After fighting to defend the U.S. as service members, organizations like Habitat for Humanity of Brevard County are working to make sure as many as possible have a place to call home.

On Wednesday, the Space Coast chapter of the national organization held a ceremonial wall raising for the fifth home in its Female Veterans Village in Cocoa. 


What You Need To Know

  • The house for Sanjanette Scott is the fifth out of six homes in the Female Veterans Village

  • The first veteran for this project moved into her home in 2020

  • This initiative is spearheaded by Habitat for Humanity of Brevard County among others

“It is almost finished. I’m almost ready to move in, which is… there are no words to describe it,” said Sanjanette Scott, an Air Force veteran who will move into the home currently under construction later this year.

Scott said she served from 1986 through 1995 when she medically retired. One of her greatest battles came nearly 20 years later when she learned she had blood clots in her left leg in 2016.

“My first amputation was below the knee and it got infected and it became above the knee. And let me tell you, there aren’t a lot of handicap-accessible places around,” Scot said. “Most of them that are have a good seven, eight-year waitlist.”

Scott maintains an optimistic disposition when it comes to her leg. She said there’s no use being overly morose about it and had she not gone ahead with the amputation, it could’ve been much worse.

“At least this way, I had a chance of getting a prosthetic leg and living somewhat of a normal life,” she said. “If it had to be done, it just had to be done. It’s sort of like no use crying over spilled milk.”

‘It signifies hope’

Scott, who moves around with the use of a wheelchair, said it’s incredibly difficult to find housing that can accommodate her and others who have physical handicaps. 

She said after trying and not succeeding for years to find suitable housing for herself; she came across a stroke of luck with a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs who heard about the program that Habitat for Humanity was working on in Cocoa.

So, she gathered up all the materials, took a chance and sent them in.

“I waited a few weeks, and they said, ‘You need to come into the office and do your interview.’ And I was just like, ‘What? I wasn’t told no?’ And I was just very surprised by that,” Scott said. “At the same time, excited, but cautious because I had been told ‘no’ so many times by other different programs.”

She also credited her sorority sisters from the Delta Omicron Omega chapter for helping her keep the faith and to stay positive that an opportunity like this would come along some day.

“And they were absolutely right. So, I have to thank them for keeping my head in the game,” Scott said.

Some of her sorority sisters were in attendance during the wall raising ceremony. Among them were city officials and members of the HFH board, including Yanique Whyne, a woman who received her own home through a Habitat program about five and a half years ago.

“The opportunity to have a Habitat home has not only changed my life, but it has given me purpose, given my son a place to stay, given my son a place to play,” Whyne said. “And given me the opportunity to not only become a homeowner, but to branch out and experience things I never would have experience if I didn’t have a home."

Scott echoed the sentiments and said that having this opportunity doesn’t just mean having a place to call her own. That autonomy also comes with a level of dignity and love.

“It signifies hope and that there are still people in this world who understand the word ‘humanity,’” Scott said.

The home for her is expected to be completed later this year.

Sponsors of the Female Veterans Village include the following: