All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio.
And now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry.
Welcome to Veterans Radio. My name is Dale Throneberry, CW2-type helicopter pilot in Vietnam in 1969.
I want to welcome you to our program today. We're going to be talking, we've got some really cool subjects going on here.
We're going to be talking about veteran homeless issues in Detroit.
And later on in the program, we're going to be talking to an organization called Homes for Our Troops out of Massachusetts that builds homes for veterans, for disabled veterans, and I'm really excited to talk to all of our guests about these issues that are out there.
If you want to get in on a conversation, I think it's really important. This is a cool one for you to get in on. The number is 734-822-1600.
Before we get into our first guest, I need to make sure that we thank everybody for their support of Veterans Radio.
Hey, you know, coming up on Tuesday, this next Tuesday, is Giving Tuesday. And Giving Tuesday, and I'm sure that all of you have gotten the emails and things in the mail and so forth, it's our opportunity to support our local charities or support our local nonprofits.
And for those of you that are obviously listening to our program, there's a lot of organizations that we talk about here on Veterans Radio over the years.
We usually try to highlight a nonprofit every program. This time we've got lots of them. Oh, I forgot to tell you, Veterans Radio is a nonprofit.
So I guess I can give you my little pitch for Veterans Radio. You know, those of you that have been listening to us for the last 20 years, this is your opportunity to support us if you can.
You can just go to our website, veteransradio.org, click on the donate button, and we will be very, very happy for your donation. It helps us stay on the air.
We've got a few costs that go along with trying to do this on a weekly basis, but you can listen to us in our archives. You can listen to us as podcasts.
So there's lots of things going on out there that you can help us with as far as spreading the word about our organization. So these, if you can, we'd appreciate it.
20 years, 20 bucks, that's all we're asking for. And I think that would work out well.
But before we get into that, let's talk a little bit more about our sponsors. We've got a couple of them that we're really proud to have supporting us.
Number one is Legal Help for Veterans. Legal Help for Veterans specializes in veteran disability claims. So give Legal Help for Veterans a call at 800-6934800.
That's 800-6934800.
Or you can go to their website, legalhelpforveterans.com. The National Veterans Business Development Council, better known as NVBDC, is the nation's leading third party authority for certification of veteran-owned businesses.
For more information, you can go to their website, that's NVBDC.org, or give them a call at 888-237-8433.
If you want to do business with the federal government and you are a veteran-owned, or especially a disabled veteran-owned business, you got to get certified.
So these are the folks that can do it, NVBDC.org.
The Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For more information, you can go to va.gov. slash ann arbor health care.
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We also want to thank our local veterans organizations for their longtime support of Veterans Radio.
Number one is the Irwin Prescor and American Legion Post 46 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 310, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
We want to thank these organizations and you, our loyal listeners for your support.
It's such a privilege for us to get to talk to these people that support veterans and their concerns and their issues and they're helping them with whatever it is that they specialize in.
And it's just great. We love doing this.
So we're going to get into our first interview. We have, and I'm joining me on the line right now is Deandra of Gorely and she is the,
there is this Vice President of Social Services for Volunteers of America.
And Deandra, welcome to Veterans Radio.
Thank you. I'm happy to be here.
Well, you know, I got this email. And it was about the idea of preventing homeless or trying to eliminate homeless veterans in Detroit.
And this to me just seems like a really overwhelming challenge or maybe I'm just not up to date on that. And that's why I asked you.
So you, along with the Ann Arbor, I mean, not the Ann Arbor VA, but the Detroit VA are working together to put this program together.
Can you explain to me what's happening in Detroit?
Yeah, so there's actually quite a few of us working on veteran homelessness and ending veteran homelessness for Detroit Hamtramek and Highland Park.
So we started this endeavor in 2017. And since 2017, we now have seen a 70% reduction in veterans experiencing homelessness in Detroit Hamtramek and Highland Park.
So it's a partnership with Community Solutions, which is a national nonprofit that has what is called the Built for Zero movement, which focuses on or allows communities to join to focus on a specific population of homelessness and make it rare, brief and non reoccurring and then declare functional zero.
So the Detroit VAMC, along with other community partners such as volunteers of America, Michigan, have been working to reduce veterans experiencing homelessness by getting them into permanent housing and ensuring that they can sustain their permanent housing.
So we've seen these major reductions in veteran homelessness. And we had some major wins, even in the last two years, where we outpaced the national reduction in veteran homelessness here in Detroit Hamtramek and Highland Park.
And right now we are on pace to be the first major city to hit functional zero and veteran homelessness. So it's really exciting.
But you are right, it's an incredibly complex problem. But it's not like we started yesterday, you know, we've been doing this work now for six almost seven years, and we've been able to just really have these major milestones where we're seeing an intentional reduction in need for homeless beds for veterans, because there's just less veterans in the system needing them.
I think it's certainly admirable to take on this challenge.
And you mentioned that you're working with a Detroit health center, medical center out there.
And what other organizations are helping you out. I know this seems like it's a big wide group of people in Detroit.
Absolutely. So there's a number of veteran service providers in Detroit. So volunteers of America, Michigan is one of them.
My side, formerly Southwest Solutions is another.
Denom disability network Eastern Michigan, and then we have the Detroit rescue mission ministries.
As well as our Michigan veterans foundation, you know, those are kind of the main providers of services.
But the city of Detroit is also a pivotal partner in this work and the Detroit VA.
So if I, if I were homeless, how do I, how do I get involved with you and your needs organizations?
Yeah, so one of the reasons we've been successful is a number of years ago, Detroit veteran homelessness, join the coordinated entry system.
And the coordinated entry system is the entry point for any individual experiencing homelessness to get connected to services.
So we have a phone number for cam and I can pull that up in a moment, but cam is the coordinated assessment model and any individual youth family experiencing homelessness can give that number of call and get connected to services.
In addition to that cam is also staffed at the Detroit VA. So any veteran experiencing homelessness can go to the Detroit VA to get connected to services.
And then myself and a number of the other community partners also have outreach workers because we know that unsheltered homelessness in Detroit looks different than other communities.
You know, there's a lot of vacant blighted abandoned buildings in Detroit. So we do have folks in these buildings sometimes where other major cities would have folks like out on the street.
So we have outreach workers that work to get connected to individuals that might not present at the VA or any of the other access points for services.
And that's how we get everyone involved, but it's, it's critical to have, you know, that entry point and have the outreach to find people who maybe aren't accessing services.
All right. So, you know, once you find this homeless community, it's homeless veteran, and you mentioned that all they had to do is to call this cam number, which we'll get to it in a little bit, and that they will help them out.
How do how does this work? I mean, I'm trying to figure it out as to housing. How is there a program out there right now for housing veterans.
Yeah, so at volunteers of America, Michigan, we have a couple programs that are funded federally by the VA.
Our first is our grant and per diem program, and that is a shelter like program that we operate in new center Detroit.
So we have 40 beds for male veterans experiencing homelessness and they can stay in that program for up to two years, but as a community we've committed to rehouse folks within 90 days.
So once a veterans assessed and assigned to us from the VA, they come into our program there and then they could either be connected to HUD bash, which is the voucher program.
So it's similar to section eight, but it's for veterans only.
And that comes with connection to housing services, a subsidy similar to section eight and intensive case management in house.
So on the HUD bash path and HUD bash could work collaboratively with our program to find landlords willing to accept, you know, veterans in the subsidy, or instead of high bash they might be connected to one of the other programs we provide which is our supportive services to veteran families.
And that is one of the largest programs volunteers of America Michigan operates, we have it not only in Detroit and Wayne County but 13 other counties across the state.
That program works with veteran and veteran families to find suitable housing, assist them moving into housing by helping with obtaining household goods, helping pay security deposit, you know, few months of rent, and get them stabilized in their home, and then provide that case management,
but not as intense as HUD bash would, you know, this is really for the veteran and family who've maybe been challenged with income primarily or there was a job loss or just some other life event, or we even see like, maybe they were living in an apartment and the landlord is changing
who they're renting to rents are going up and so they're being exited from that housing.
We work to find them appropriate suitable housing, get them in there and get them stable and secure, and then connect them to any other resources they may need so whether that's employment opportunities, mental health services, ongoing food support, you know, things like that.
Those are some of the pathways. We also have a grant and pretty in case management program so this is for our veterans who maybe just need lighter touch services.
Or they had been formerly in the homeless system. They're now in housing, but maybe they just need some additional assistance in the form of case management, you know, getting them connected to resources, ensuring that once they're in their housing, everything's going to be suitable,
and they're being attainable and appropriate for them. So there's many different pathways. I know we just covered a lot, but I think it's, you know, important to recognize that homelessness is complex and there's not one reason that causes homelessness and so you do need a variety of solutions and opportunities for people to exit that and be sustained in their housing.
We are talking with Deandra Curley, who is a vice president of social service and volunteers of America and is heavily involved in the, hopefully, the elimination of homelessness for veterans in Detroit.
And you mentioned something before we went on the air when I was asking, you know, is there an estimate of how many veterans are homeless in Detroit?
Yeah, right now we have a little over 100 experiencing homelessness in Detroit and, you know, I said at the start that that's a 70% reduction since 2017. So that's a huge reduction in the number of veterans that are experiencing homelessness.
And I'm confident with the number because most communities count homelessness once a year in January during a point in time count or every other year during that point in time count.
As I mentioned, we have the coordinated entry system so we know live who is entering our system and we can have a daily update on new veterans entering the system.
And most importantly, veterans exiting the system into permanent housing. So we have that live data year round where most communities for any population that they're working with just have that once a year estimate that gives them that snapshot of homelessness.
And having that live real time daily updated data is how we've been able to really move the mark on veteran homelessness here in Detroit.
I'm just so impressed with the efficiency of your program.
I guess I was, you know, of a of a mind that oh, this is outrageous, you know, and there are hundreds and hundreds of, you know, veterans on the streets of Detroit and it seems like, you know, that not only are you working with the Detroit VA but you're also working with the city of Detroit.
You mentioned that before we went on the air. Can you tell us how they are involved?
Yeah. So the city of Detroit is part of our veteran leadership committee and the veteran leadership committee is the group that really oversees the strategic initiatives that we're enacting to help solve and hit functional zero with veteran homelessness.
So community partners are at the table, the Detroit VA is at the table and the city of Detroit is there. The city of Detroit supports the work we're doing.
By helping us bring other landlords to the table so you're not going to solve homelessness without having places for people to go right.
Right. So the Detroit, or the city has been really strategic and bringing more affordable units online, ensuring that any landlord or housing provider who wants to provide housing for veterans is looped into our work so that we ensure that we have the appropriate housing for our veterans.
And then they're also working to ensure that just everything stays really connected. You know, they're part of the coordinated entry system.
So their work ensures that just, you know, as a cohesive group, we come together.
And then they continue to support our initiatives. So if we need assistance, you know, seeking funding, they're willing to help write a letter occasionally and just really ensure that the work continues forward.
I'm very impressed with this whole idea. And when, you know, when we talk about homelessness, we're not just talking about the veteran because sometimes you have a whole family, don't you?
Correct. Yeah.
Yeah. So with our supportive services for veteran families program, we will serve the veteran and however they identify their family. So if that's veteran and children, veteran and parent and children, you know, veteran and significant other, that's the housing we're looking for with them.
And we recognize that, you know, family makeups might look different than just your nuclear family. So we work with the veteran and however their family is identified.
In Detroit, we do primarily see singles who are experiencing homelessness in the veteran community, but, you know, we do have families as well.
And I think that that's so important. And I'm sure that it's not just, you know, male veterans that are involved in this program. I'm sure that you have been able to house female veterans as well.
Correct. Yeah. So our female veterans, we do see lots of them, you know, they're only about 10% of the veteran population that I think it's even a smaller portion are represented in the homelessness population.
However, we have seen that number increase a little bit, but we do ensure that they're connected to all the services and supports available to all the veterans.
Wow. And I see here, you know, that the idea of providing permanent, permanent housing for these veterans, if you can, and I know that's the ultimate goal.
And I know that you have been receiving, you know, some support coming from rocket mortgage.
Yes. Yeah, rocket mortgage is a great supporter of the work we're doing in Detroit, but also of community solutions who has the built for zero initiative that we're participating in.
So they're a partner on both ends, both to the work we're doing in Detroit and community solutions built for zero movement broadly over the US.
In fact, and I could just kind of touch on that just briefly you mentioned that many of these programs are across the country.
Right. Just in Detroit.
Correct. Yeah. So the built for zero movement and folks are curious on the work that we're doing, you know, we didn't make up what we would do built for zero really does have a great layout of the different metrics to hit and order for each community to reduce homelessness.
And the majority of the work that we've done to reduce veteran homelessness was without bringing new housing units online.
So a lot of the initial work is really getting quality data, bringing the system together and ensuring that really that we're all communicating effectively because in homeless services, there's a lot of community partners doing the same work for the same population in a large city like
Detroit. The majority of time though those providers don't talk to each other.
And so if I'm experiencing homelessness in Detroit either as a veteran or non veteran prior to veteran work.
I might be working with multiple agencies or have touched multiple agencies but those agencies don't work together.
And so that was really the initial work that we started with in Detroit is bringing everyone together.
Everyone is aligned on the mission. We all know who the veterans are in our community and the providers that they're working with, and those providers talk to each other for each specific veterans case.
So have you found that the veteran community in Detroit.
Is it younger or older or is it across the board. Um, right now it's a little bit across the board. It has primarily been older.
And as we look to really make our move on this like last mile of veteran homelessness, there's two populations who are really working with.
Our aging veteran population who's not yet ready for assisted living, but does need a little bit more support in their home.
So that's one of the problems we're trying to solve right now is like, what does that permanent housing solution look like for these veterans. You know, is it something we have available or something we need to bring on board.
And the second is our younger veteran population. We are starting to see more younger veterans. And the challenge with our younger veterans can sometimes be that they don't have any rental history.
So they're not appealing to a landlord to rent to. They may also have been involved with the justice system.
So it's challenging on paper to bring landlords on board to rent to these specific veterans.
With our rocket mortgage partner with our VA funded programs that we have, you know, we are able to incentivize landlords to work with us. So.
If there are landlords out there who are interested in providing permanent housing to our veterans, you know, they can contact us at volunteers of America, Michigan. I'd love to have a conversation.
But we work to just bring the right sort of landlords to the table who understand this population and are willing to work with them for both of those groups.
I just think this is a great, great plan that you've all put together this, you know, just all these people working together. I think it is what's so amazing about it and that you're, you know, if you've got this down to zero.
I mean, that's that's pretty good. I mean, that's you got to know about what you're doing.
Yeah, it's, it's really ambitious. Some days it's like, oh my gosh, I can't believe we're doing this and other days like this is really much like it's really in grasp like we can do this.
And I think, you know, what I try to inspire folks is like if a city like Detroit can do this that is historically underfunded.
And just really been an underdog of a city, I think it's possible in a lot of different communities.
And so you mentioned it like the secret sauce to all this work is just that we're all communicating and working together. And like that is possible, I think, regardless of the resources available, we can make measurable reductions to homelessness by providers coming together and working together.
I just think it's it's wonderful. So just to kind of review the conclusion here.
If I'm homeless in Detroit, where do I go?
Yeah, so you can go to the Detroit VA or you can call Cam, which is 313305 0311.
And that's for any individual experiencing homelessness veterans included.
So 313305 0311.
I think that's great. I think that's that's that's great. And I want to applaud you.
Deandra and along with the other organizations, of course, the volunteers of America and Michigan does a whole lot of work with veterans and I should point out that is giving Tuesday coming up and I'm sure the volunteers of America would be would appreciate donations as well.
Absolutely.
And I want to thank you for being on the program.
Sorry that we, you know, that our other guest wasn't able to make it.
But we'll keep talking and we will hopefully we will get a chance to talk with you again. Deandra and let us know.
You know, what is going on with the program. I think it'd be just terrific.
Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to come back.
Thank you very much. Deandra Gourley is the vice president of social services for volunteers of America.
We're going to take a break here. So I'm going to kind of get a hold of Derek and let him know that we're going to be taking a break.
We're going to be playing our Medal of Honor. When we come back, we're going to be talking about the other organization that we're going to be having on the program, which is homes for our troops.
So you're listening to veterans radio. We will be back in just a moment.
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor and combat given a member of the armed forces of the United States.
There have been over 3400 recipients of the nation's highest award. This is one of them.
Captain Lewis Millett was wounded by grenade fragments, but refused evacuation. Details after this.
If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals, contact legal help for veterans at 1-800-693-4800.
They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Their number again, 1-800-693-4800.
While personally leading his company in an attack against a strongly held Korean position, Millett noted that the first platoon was pinned down by small arms, automatic, and anti-tank fire.
Millett ordered the third platoon forward, placed himself at the head of the two platoons, and with fixed bayonet, led the assault up the fire-swept hill.
In the fierce charge, he bayoneted two enemy soldiers and boldly continued on, throwing grenades, clubbing and bayonetting the enemy while urging his men forward by shouting encouragement.
Despite vicious opposing fire, the whirlwind hand-to-hand assault carried to the crest of the hill. His leadership and personal courage so inspired his men that they stormed into the hostile position and used their bayonets with such lethal effect that the enemy fled in wild disorder.
During this fierce onslaught, Millett was wounded by grenade fragments, but refused evacuation until the objective was taken and firmly secured.
The Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans Radio.
This is a message from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
So if you are homeless, as we said in the Detroit Highland Park area, that's the number to call to get started.
You don't have to be a veteran. They're out there to help everybody, and this will kind of start directing the call in the right area.
So that number again is 313-305-0311.
Joining me on my line now a little bit early, but greatly appreciated, is retired Brigadier General Tom Landwergmeier, and he is the President and CEO of Home for Our Troops.
And this is a great organization. We have talked with them in the past. And what they do is they build homes for veterans. What a concept, right?
Well, I asked them to join us today because Giving Tuesday is coming up, and they've got a big project that they want to accomplish.
So joining me right now is President and CEO of Homes for Our Troops, Tom Landwergmeier. Tom, welcome to Veterans Radio.
Thanks very much. They're really great to be here. Thanks for having us on.
Well, thank you very much for agreeing to come on early. I appreciate that.
No worries.
Yeah, you know, live radio, it's always exciting.
So tell me about this organization, Home for Our Troops. I know we have talked about it before, but in doing the little research for today's interview, it's much bigger than I thought it was.
It's a national charity located in Totten, Massachusetts, which is about an hour south of Boston.
We've been around since 2004, and our mission is to build specially adapted custom homes across the country.
And then we donate them to the most severely injured post-911 veterans to enable them to rebuild their lives.
We began in 2004. Next year will be our 20th anniversary. To date, we've built and donated 370 homes across 45 states.
We've got 77 projects underway across the country, another 100 veterans in the application process of our program.
Now, on top of all those numbers, there's still more than 1,000 more of these severely injured post-911 veterans that would qualify for our program.
Average in 20 to 25 homes a year, we got a lot of work to do, Dale.
I would guess so. This project, as I mentioned, was so much bigger than I remember it, and so much bigger than I imagined it to be.
So, you know, if you've built over 370 homes across the country, I want to encourage our listeners.
Their website is HFOTUSA.org. That's HFOTUSA.org. And there's a map on there of where these houses are across the country.
And I wanted to just say that we've got at least six of them I know that are in Michigan, which I thought was amazing.
I don't know why I didn't know more about this, but that's what we're doing this for today.
Spread the word and let people know what you are doing here, building these houses for these really severely disabled veterans.
It's got to make you feel good every time you hand the keys over to somebody.
Well, you know, Dale does, but even though we're a charity, we don't see what we do as charity.
We really see it as the duty of the citizens of our country to take care of these troops and their families.
They voluntarily served. They have raised the right hand and gone wherever they were needed.
And these, this particular crop of veterans went downrange when they were asking, blink of an eye on their lives and their families life changed forever.
But it's up to the citizens of our country to take care of them.
And we're in the organization that people can support and ensure it will happen.
I promise you it's going to happen. We're going to take care of them.
You know, you certainly are. It's, as I said, you know, it's giving Tuesday coming up and you have a, you have a pretty strong or pretty big goal for this year's fundraising.
Can you tell us about that a little bit and who supports you?
Absolutely. We're supporting 100% by the American public about 65% comes from individual donations, grants, foundations, independent fundraisers across country.
The other 35% are with corporate partners. Some give material for the homes. Some give cash. Some give both, but it's 100% public we've funded on this giving Tuesday, which is the global day of giving the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving each year.
Our goal is to raise a million dollars to, and that will pay for all of the emergency kind of adaptations that are in the home. So it'll, it'll pay for the automatic door openers, the wider doorways throughout the home, providing wheelchair accessibility,
the safe rooms in case of weather emergency and you've only got limited time to get out of your regular house and then backup generators.
And that million dollars will fund all those items for the 31 homes that we are going to build next year.
The really great thing this year is our national board of directors and some of our corporate partners, ABC supply company Inc, USAA and also case all came through with donations to match up to a million dollars.
So we were goal is a million and we got a million dollar match on top of it. So we're trying to get to a $2 million day on Tuesday.
Wow, you know, and two million dollars can, can build a lot of houses. Well, I guess not as many as it used to, but you know, it's still, you can, and I know you briefly described some of these houses just a moment ago, but these are really designed specifically for the veteran whatever their, their disability is, that's what you do.
They are, we've got a basic floor plan about 2800 square feet for bedroom to bath.
It's a single story, but we meet with the veteran before we finalize the plans for each home.
And we go through these more than 40 special adaptations that are designed and they were one of them and see which ones they really need and see if they need something different.
But the veterans we support have lost or lost the use of watermore limbs. Some of them are blinded. Others have severe burns and different levels of paralysis.
They truly are very severely injured. And they just have a tough time doing all the little things from day to day that we all take for granted in our homes.
If you listen to just kind of look around their own home, if they've got any stairs coming or going from the front door, if they get a two story house, if they got carpet throughout the house, if you got regular sized doorways,
it's can't get a wheelchair through all those things.
A lot of them are unsafe for our veterans and a lot of them just impede the accessibility. They can't get everywhere at home.
We've had veterans tell us that they're looking forward to getting into our home just so that they can be a normal dad or normal spouse again, because if they were to go into their child's bedroom at night to read them a story,
they're going to have to drag themselves upstairs down the hallway and into the child's bedroom and back out again.
Because some of them don't even use their wheelchairs at home and some of them, they have to pull them upstairs with them to be able to use it.
And then because of the angles and everything, they can't get a wheelchair in or out of the bedroom.
So all those things that we just take for granted cause these veterans frustrations. And I think everybody would agree that they fought enough for us.
They shouldn't have to fight through frustrations with their home. The home ought to be a place of respite like all of ours.
It is. And again, I want to make sure I mentioned their website is, you know, it's hfotusa.org.
They've got a lot of great information on there.
I also have some videos of some of these houses that they have built and just the, I can't even think of the equipment that has been included, you know, the roll in showers, which is just awesome for, and I know some veterans that
just, you know, need that themselves. And the idea of there were cabinets, you know, your regular cabinets in your kitchen, but they, you kind of pull on a handle and everything in that cabinet comes down to a lower level so that you could utilize them.
I think that's great. Whoever designed these houses, obviously was a little bit of a genius.
Well, the good thing is, most unique thing about us, apart from all of those in our space, is that when we give the keys to one of our veterans at the keys ceremony, we stay in contact with them after that for life.
We promise them a quality home. If anything goes wrong with it, we're going to step in and fix it.
Those 40 special adaptations that I mentioned, we get feedback from them on those adaptations because by 65 or so teammates at Tom Massachusetts are headquarters.
None of us are in capacity like that. None of us are missing limbs, require a wheelchair. We're all up roaming around just like normal.
So we can't provide that sort of input and background info on all those adaptations. We really needed to come from the veterans and the families that are living in them because we're constantly tweaking our home plans.
And then lastly, we stay in contact with them primarily. The most important reason is they're going to achieve some wonderful things throughout the rest of their lives and we want to be there to celebrate with them.
But these houses are not going to fix their injuries. So they're still going to be rehab and recovering through the rest of their lives.
And they're going to go through some challenges and we want to be there and help them go through those challenges and get the support they need to get past them and continue to rebuild their lives.
I was going to mention that not only do you build these houses pretty much for each individual veteran, but you also offer follow up care. You offer financial planning for them, budgeting, and just help on a regular basis.
I think that's a really difference between your plan and some of the other ones that are out there.
And we want to make sure with that financial planning that we set them up for success as a homeowner.
So we offer them promo, no three years of financial planning assistance to every veteran and their family.
And when they initially apply for our program, the first thing we'll do is a quick background check.
Because once in a while we might find something in their background that our donors and supporters would not agree to help and fund.
And then we do a financial health check because a lot of these veterans were pretty young when they were blown up.
The majority of them were blown up downrange by IVDs.
And their finances weren't necessarily in the best shape.
So we'll assign a financial planner to them early to get their finances in shape.
Because even though we give them this home and they have no mortgage payment, we're giving it to them outright.
We signed the deed over the day before the T ceremony.
They're still the homeowner in all other respects.
So they're going to have to be responsible for the upkeep to the home.
Anything with an HOA.
They've got to remain in compliance, utilities, property taxes, insurance, all those kinds of things.
And that's when we assign that financial planner to them so they can figure all that stuff out ahead of time.
The other thing that helps them with is determining where they want to live.
Because unlike some organizations, our veterans tell us where they want to live.
Then we go out and find the land.
We bounce it off them, get their approval, buy the land, find a custom home builder in the area, hire them, and then build them a home from the ground up.
So that math you mentioned that has all those little houses all across the United States, every one of those was placed where the veteran wanted to live.
We did buy the land and then go find a veteran. They told us where they wanted to live.
And that's, that's, I'm speechless.
Tom, we're talking about Tom Land, Land Wormire, who is the president and CEO of Homes for Our Troops.
And the idea that the veteran can choose where they want to, you know, want you to build their house, I think is just, that's so important, I think.
How do, how do I get into, not me specifically, obviously, but if I were, you know, injured, you know, lost a limbs and all the other things that whatever your criteria is, how do I get involved with, with, with Homes for Our Troops?
First thing to do is just go to our website and right there on our main page about us is a spot where we go to request assistance and whether that's a veteran, a caregiver, a family, whatever it may be, get on there and request assistance and we'll be in contact.
We also really need our veterans out there that we've supported over the years to be talking to other veterans that they know that might qualify for our program.
And they bump into guys from time to time, whether it be while they're rehabbing at the hospital or an event for veterans, they will bump into these guys all the time.
And we always ask them, if you see somebody, ask them if they know about us and if they don't, tell them to get in contact with us and then we'll check them out.
And if they're eligible, great, we can bring them in the program.
If not, you know, we have a, an intake shop in our headquarters and it consists of two people, two ladies.
And one of the ladies has been there for about 15 years and she knows more about this organization than I will ever know.
But she knows the VA system very, very well.
But 90% of their time on a monthly basis is taken up by responding to queries to veterans that do not qualify for our program.
90% of their time because they don't just say, I'm sorry, you don't qualify and hang up the phone or send an email.
Sorry.
They stay in contact with them and say, so what do you need?
And they'll listen to their story and they will get with one of the many veteran support organizations that we remain in contact with and try and get them a handoff to one of those other veteran support organizations get their help.
But over 90% of their time each month is taken up by helping people out that never even qualify for our program.
What does it take to qualify?
Well, I mean, are there certain standards that I mean, obviously there are certain standards, but are there certain conditions that you're looking for?
Yeah, generally it's so a post 911 veteran that was injured downrange in the theaters or either Iraq or Afghanistan.
They're either retired already could be medically retired retired from the service or in the process of it.
And then one of the main things is that they are eligible and receive their letter from the VA stating they're eligible for the specially adapted housing grant.
And that is a congressional established program that supports provides monetary assistance to either rehab, adapt a home that they currently have to help them out with adaptations in it,
or to construct an adapted home or to buy one, they'll provide them with some monetary assistance do that.
But it has very strict congressional requirements that they have to meet.
And so we use the VA to kind of narrow that shock group, if you will, of the injured veterans that are out there to bring them down to the most severely injured.
So if they're eligible for that VA grant, then they can come to us and apply.
Okay. And so does a VA contribute to the building of the houses?
They don't. They don't contribute directly to us. Our veterans can donate.
We went through a period of time where it was just open to them as to whether or not they want to donate some or all of their specially adapted housing grant to us.
And now it is a requirement for them to donate at the keys ceremony time, whatever they may have currently in their SAH grant.
The good thing about their SAH grant is it tends to increase each year. So even if they use it all in a prior home, or they want to donate to us to pay it forward for other veterans coming behind them,
that SAH grant will continue to increase over the years. And with a recent adjustment to it called the Ryan Cools Act, they can now reach out and touch that SAH grant six different times during their lifetime.
Well, I didn't know that. See, folks, you're listening to Veterans Radio. Learn something new every week.
This is important information for us to know. I mean, I know for my generation of veterans, a number of people that have used that grant to modify their homes and make it as you just, you know, when we were describing their homes that you build,
you know, making the doorways wider, putting in accessible showers and so on and so forth.
But I did not realize that that was that they could dip into it more than once. I think that's great.
So if we're trying to raise, you know, this million dollars and million dollar grant, let's let's remind our audience where they where they need to go to do this.
They need to go to homes for our troops website, which is HFOTUSA.org.
And right there on the first banner that's going to come up for the next couple of days when you go there is about Giving Tuesday. There's also a big red button where you can donate.
And on Tuesday, all of the donations up to a million dollars will be matched by our board of directors and a few corporate partners with a million dollar match.
So any amount that you donate, you'll be doubling your impact on Tuesday if you donate during Giving Tuesday.
Now, I'm certainly encouraging everybody out there to make those donations and you know, whatever a veterans organization that that you support this Tuesday is really important to everyone.
And for every one of those organizations because there are a lot of them I know have the matches that are that are going on as Tom mentioned here.
And again, I just think that this organization is working so hard and building individual homes for veterans.
And that's that's the key here, I think is that, you know, once the veteran gets through the vetting process, you know, they get to choose where they want the house built.
And the homes for our troops will go out there and build it.
I think that's wonderful. I'm sure that there's a, you know, again, looking at your at your website, I was looking at some of the information about, you know, some of the things that have changed in these veterans lives once they get this home.
You know, it's not only that do they end up, you know, going back to school or going to school for the first time or maybe, you know, actually getting a better job, but also the family situation normally changes for the better as well.
Can you could you just address that a little bit?
Absolutely. So we do build it these homes for the veteran, but it does affect the entire family.
As I mentioned earlier, just those day to day things that these veterans have challenges and frustrations with just cost them a lot of extra time during the day.
And somebody oftentimes is helping them do things like getting up in the morning, getting ready to do whatever you're getting dressed, going into taking a shower, getting something to eat or drink just all those little things that we all take for granted.
And all it does is ratchet up the stress inside the family.
The other things that spouses and caregivers will tell you is when they leave the current home, they worry about their veteran being safe and being able to get around their home while they're gone.
So the stress level really is high on the entire family, especially those spouses and caregivers after moving into our homes. 95% of our veterans tell us that the overall stress has gone down in the family.
Education, some of them choose to go back to school before moving into our homes.
So if only 18% of our veterans either had a degree or were pursuing a degree or trade certification after moving into our homes, it goes up to 72%.
For the spouses and caregivers, only 19% beforehand pursuing a degree trade certification afterwards goes up to 79%.
Employment rate. A lot of the veterans, spouses choose to go back to work.
So after moving into our homes, the employment rate of our veterans more than doubles, but the employment rate of the spouses and caregivers more than triples.
It's just incredible the impact it has.
The married rate has gone up by over 20% of our veterans in homes.
And since 2010, and we've had 267 babies born to our H5 families.
Congratulations on that one.
All by itself.
The last thing I tell you is these veterans are all about paying it forward, not only for other veterans, but in their communities.
They want to be out involved in their community because it's going to take the entire community for these veterans and their families to get through the rest of their lives.
They're going to have challenges and they're going to need that support structure.
Before moving into our homes, only 22% of our veterans have the time and the ability to go out and volunteer in their local communities after moving into our homes.
That goes up to 76%.
So these homes truly are creating some life changing impact on these veterans and their families.
Wow. I can't tell you enough, Tom, how pleased I am to help promote this organization to the world.
And again, I encourage our listeners out there to go on to their website that go on to homes for our troops.
It's H F O T USA.org.
And, you know, make a donation.
You can make donations to other organizations too, but I think this one is doing a great, great job and Tom on and thank you so much for being on veterans radio today and telling us all about what homes for our troops can do and good luck with your fundraising.
Thanks so much. They really appreciate the time.
One of the biggest things we always leave people with is how you can help.
The first way you can do it is by going under our website, see if we're building near you.
If we are come out and support that veteran and family, wrap your arms around them because it's going to take you to help them.
The second is awareness is what you're helping us do right here this evening.
We only spend 10 cents to the dollar on advertising and overhead, almost 90 cents of every dollar since inception has gone to our programs.
So we're not out there advertising. You're not going to see us a lot. A lot of people will say we never heard of you before, but that's that's with thought.
That's a conscious decision.
We're grassroots awareness organization, but efforts like this and anybody that can get out there and tell them about the organization they ran into today, what we do and who we support will really help us out in the awareness.
And then again, you've hit it multiple times. Donate.
We've got a monthly giving program as well as you can sign up for or volunteer.
But that website will get you to all those things.
All right, Tom, thank you very much homes for our troops building homes rebuilding lives. Go to their website hfotusa.org. Make a donation today.
Especially by Tuesday. All right. Thank you very much, Tom.
Thank you, Dale. Appreciate it.
All right, we'll be in touch. Let's see how this goes for you.
All right. Thanks for the time.
We're coming up to the end of the program here. And I want to thank everybody for tuning into veterans radio today. And of course, you know, all these other different organizations out there that you can help out.
We encourage you to do so.
Veterans radio being one Fisher house, of course, being another.
And the BDC is a is a nonprofit organization as well. So we encourage you to do that. We're going to go out today on God bless America as usual. Today's version is from the Air Force Band.
So we encourage you to stick around and listen to it. We think that this song is just so powerful.
And this kind of tells how we feel, especially here at veterans radio, but I think probably all of you feel the same way about this about this country. So until next week, when operations on will be back another charity.
This is Dale Throneberry for veterans radio and you are dismissed.
Yeah.