Glenn Close Gives a Wounded Soldier a Hand

Actress Glenn Close isn’t spending her days pretending to be a commoner at any Occupy Wall Street protest. She’s busy prepping an Oscar-bait film – “Albert Nobbs” – for awards season and helping out an Army veteran in need.

Close recently nominated Army Staff Sgt. Allen Hill as a subject for an “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” episode, helping to dramatically improve his life in the process.

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Hill, 43, is a National Guard and U.S. Army veteran who served nearly 20 years, including two tours in Iraq. He earned a Purple Heart for injuries sustained when an Improvised Explosive Device demolished a Humvee he was riding in. He has been in treatment for post-traumatic stress since the Nov. 1, 2007, incident and away from his wife and two children for much of that time. It was a dismal existence.

But earlier this year, on a hot August night, Hill and his family stood on a street in rural Franklin County, Kan., awaiting a life-changing event. Friends, neighbors, well-wishers, military members and American Legion Riders also waited. The Hill family was about to see their new home built by volunteers on the ABC television series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition …

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To assist in his recovery, Hill was sent to a non-profit facility in Napa Valley called The Pathway Home. After extensive treatment, Hill told anyone who would listen that he had “got some of his mojo back” and wanted to return home. But returning to the environment surrounding his home was not an alternative.

Actress Glenn Close learned of Hill’s predicament and nominated the Hill family for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Tom Weigand, president of the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce, through the Weigand family trust donated land in the Wheatland Hills housing development near Ottawa to build a new home for the Hill family … the 4,000-square-foot home was completed in seven days.

The Hill episode airs at 8 p.m. EST Friday on ABC.