CASEY, Ill. (WCIA) — The recent storms caused a lot of damage in Central Illinois, and for a veteran in Casey, one of them took away what gave him purpose. Now, he’s asking the community for help in building it back.

It’s his woodshop: Claire’s Handmade Crafts and Woodworking. Chris Greenleaf has been working with wood for decades despite being in a wheelchair. But now, he doesn’t have a place to create and is hoping people can help.

“I’m not in it for the money,” Greenleaf said. “I just, I like working with wood.”

Greenleaf served in Operation Desert Storm as a missile maintenance technician. But an unfortunate accident he had while serving changed his life forever.

“Wound up getting injured and coming home,” Greenleaf said.

He broke his back once in the service, and two more times back in the states.

“Now my left side is sporadic,” Greenleaf said. “I can walk, but I fall a lot. My left leg goes out a lot.”

Each time the doctors said he wouldn’t walk again, but each time he’s beaten the odds. Now, he alternates between using a cane and his motorized wheelchair. The one constant through it all has been woodworking.

“And I build furniture, dressers, bedroom sets, living room sets, dining room sets,” Greenleaf said. “I mean, whatever the customer wants. I’m in it for more something to do and that sense of purpose.”

His woodshop was taken away from him two weeks ago when straight line winds ripped through Casey.

“We have a camera in the garage,” Greenleaf said. “It went out and my wife got up and looked out the door and said that the garage just went over.”

Greenleaf lost almost everything he stored there.

“We had a table that had three large toolboxes on it that got dumped over,” Greenleaf said. “We had our table with our planer, our bands and my rotor table, which all got crushed when everything came over.”

He and his wife quickly built a shed to temporarily store what they could salvage. But now, he’s asking for help to get his woodshop up off the ground.

“I just want my woodshop back there. If people can help me with my goal, find me, I’m not asking for much,” Greenleaf said. “I just want my woodshop. That’s all I want.”

Greenleaf says he’ll need around $7,000 to finish the project and bring back his passion.

“I like building things,” Greenleaf said. “I like seeing the smiles on faces when they come and pick up their order and it’s right.”

If you want to donate to Greenleaf, you can find his GoFundMe page here. He said money will go to building materials for the shop, replacing tools that were damaged and other expenses.