Disabled BI veteran ready to enjoy his new accessible home
Published 1:30 am Thursday, May 14, 2026
Retired Army Captain Tim Bomke, who lost part of his right leg while serving in the Iraq War in 2005, received the keys to his new custom accessible home on Bainbridge Island following a May 9 ceremony.
Homes for Our Troops is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization that builds and donates specifically adapted custom homes across the U.S. to veterans injured following September 11, 2001.
Bomke received extensive injuries during a 2005 deployment in Iraq, including partial amputation of his right leg. The new custom-built home, in the Fletcher Bay neighborhood, includes roughly 40 accessibility features, including: wider halls and doorways, automatic door openers, roll-under sinks, stovetops, and counters. Bomke described his experience viewing the now-completed home.
“It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but having wider doorways when you’re navigating a home in a wheelchair, it just takes (away) so much stress…I noticed that right away,” he said. “I can use the kitchen and my bathroom as I’m upright, walking in my prosthetic, but…with the accommodations and the accessibility built in, I could just as easily be in my wheelchair without having to do anything or switch anything over. That’s just not something I have to worry about anymore,” he said.
Bomke said he chose blue as the interior color for the home as it reminds him of water, which he described as one of the places he’s happiest, and allows him to ease his pain and anxiety and replicate that feeling in his home.
“One of the things that we really appreciated about this whole process was just seeing the community of Bainbridge Island and even Kitsap County just come together and support us, and just the good sentiments we got from everybody around it, ” he said.
This is the first home HOFT has built on BI, while the nonprofit has built and donated 435 homes across the U.S., HOFT marketing and communications associate Cheryl Gendron said. HFOT previously hosted a dedication ceremony in November 2025 for Bomke.
Bomke has lived on BI since 2014 with his wife and two children, his 14-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son. He previously worked at both Amazon and Starbucks, including in military affairs, before retiring earlier this year to focus on his health and looking forward to spending time with his family and taking up his hobbies, including swimming and scuba diving.
