The Selection and Interview Committees of the Santa Clarita Veteran Services Collaborative has chosen local veteran Ernesto Trevizo, his wife Alyssa, and their two children, Sonny and Zachary, as the recipients of a new home valued at $500,000.

Operating under the guidelines set forth by an anonymous local donor (and after reviewing and scoring 40+ applications), the Selection Committee narrowed the field to 10 veteran families. From that group, five finalists were chosen to participate in personal interviews for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Trevizo, 30, is a 2006 graduate of Hart High School in Newhall. He enlisted shortly after graduation and left for Iraq in 2008 with the 1st Battalion 9th Marines.

Before he left for Iraq, Trevizo collected more than 50 Hart uniforms, which he took and distributed to grateful Iraqi kids. He was initially deployed to Ramadi for seven months.

The uniforms donation idea was actually hatched by Trevizo’s wife Alyssa, who graduated from Hart two years in 2008. They were high-school sweethearts and are married to this day.

All five members of the Interview Committee agreed that narrowing the field down to one family was extremely difficult since each of the finalists’ personal stories is very emotional and each family was deemed worthy of being given the new home.

As a follow-up, the Santa Clarita Veteran Services Collaborative will work with the other finalists to assist in making sure that other options can be considered.

The Collective also wishes to thank the many community members who have contributed furniture and household items to enhance this amazing gift.

Should any other Santa Clarita Valley resident, business, or group decide to come to the aid of a worthy veteran by donating another residence, kindly let the Collective know, and they will be glad to match the donation with one of the veterans from their pool of applicants.