The Chris Owens Story

In April 1992, Chris Owens was a truck driver at the Atlanta Home Depot distribution center with 11 years under his belt. One day, Chris was cutting tree limbs in his backyard when he fell 60 feet, breaking his neck. The accident left him paralyzed. 

“After two weeks at the Athens, Ga., Regional Medical Center, I was taken to Shepherd Spinal Center where I went through 100 days of in-house rehabilitation, learning how to live out of a wheelchair. Once released, I took 30 days off and I returned to work full-time as the facilities dispatcher,” Owens recalled. 

In those days, there was no Homer Fund, to assist associates during times of need. The Homer Fund is a nonprofit charity funded by contributions from The Home Depot associates, for associates, offering support during times of need.

Even so, Home Depot associates from around the country sent money to help Owens, when he needed it most. They demonstrated the company’s value of, “taking care of our people when he needed it the most,” Home Depot wrote.

While he was hospitalized, associates from stores across metro Atlanta worked to make his home fully wheelchair accessible, the company related. 

In the years since, Owens has held a variety of positions spanning various aspects of transportation, from distribution to Load-N-Go, to customer delivery and more.

“Today, he’s a logistics planner in the Inbound Transportation organization,” the retailer noted.

“He’s also one of our longest-tenured associates and has been with the company for 40 years. Chris enjoys hunting and fishing in his spare time and admits that ‘the outdoors is my passion.’”