Wounded Afghanistan Veteran Gets New Home

Military family gets place to call home
Center Daily
By Clayton Over
November 15, 2014

UNIVERSITY PARK — Any serviceman or woman, past or present, will talk of how good it feels to come home after a tour of duty.

Nicholas Snook, an Army sergeant recently discharged from active duty, and his family now have a home of their own to go to. The Snooks were presented with a house Saturday during a ceremony at Pegula Ice Arena. After moving every couple of years in the service, Snook said a permanent home is welcomed.

“The main thing is stability,” he said. “It’s a place to call home.”

Snook, of Dover, served as a military policeman and deployed to the Kandahar province of Afghanistan in 2010. He was awarded the Purple Heart during that tour. The home was presented to the family by Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization that provides services to veterans, including awarding homes to selected veterans, said Pete Stinson, Operation Homefront’s executive director for Pennsylvania. The group has provided around 10 homes to veterans in Pennsylvania in the last two years, he said.
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Wells Fargo to donate $30 million worth of property to veterans and their families

Veteran receives mortgage-free home in Harford
Joppatowne condo donated by Wells Fargo to Operation Homefront organization
Baltimore Sun
BY DAVID ANDERSON
July 3, 2014

John Laursen, an Army veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his wife Casey have spent about a year handling his recovery after being medically evacuated from Afghanistan, but they are able to begin moving forward, with the first steps being across the threshold of their new home in Harford County Wednesday.

The Laursens and their dog, a Labrador mix named Bailey, will live in a mortgage-free condominium in Joppatowne, which they obtained through the nonprofit organization Operation Homefront.

Wells Fargo owns the property, and the San Francisco-based banking firm, one of the largest in the nation, donated it to Operation Homefront.

The property donation is part of a commitment by Wells Fargo to donate $30 million worth of property to veterans and their families; the financial institution committed $35 million over three years to assist veterans beginning in 2012.

The Laursens moved into the condominium, in the 500 block of Cider Press Court, Wednesday morning.

As part of the "key ceremony," they received a surprise greeting from representatives of Operation Homefront, as well as family members they have not seen in a year, including Casey's older sister, Stephanie Young, her mother Cindy Young and grandmother Kathy Hallsworth, all of Watertown, N.Y.

The couple had been living in an apartment in Woodbridge, Va., since July 2013 as John recovered at Ft. Belvoir Community Hospital from injuries sustained in Afghanistan that year.
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Marine Veteran’s Generosity Earns Him Mortgage-Free Home

Marine Veteran’s Generosity Earns Him Mortgage-Free Home From Operation Homefront
CBS Sacramento
December 4, 2013

SALIDA (CBS13) — Marine Veteran Sgt. Ryan Dinkel’s new home is more than an upgrade from the 600-square-foot apartment he’s shared with his fiancee. It represents a fresh start

He spent nearly a decade in the military and served two tours in Iraq. He’s had several surgeries and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

“There were a few times I felt like I was going to die when I got out,” Dinkel said but as soon as I started linking up with the veterangroups, I found an area I liked and tried to help one vet after another.”

He’s now dedicated his life to giving back to veterans in need. He’s also studying to become a counselor to help others cope.
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Retired Marine gets keys to Oxnard home

Retired Marine gets keys to Oxnard home
VCStar.com
By Gretchen Wenner
Posted November 1, 2012

The former enlisted Marine and his family walked through the door of their Oxnard home for the first time Thursday morning thanks to a charity program for veterans.

"Is that a real fireplace?" wondered Manuel Lopez, 32, as he, his wife and their four daughters toured the two-story house in the Lemonwood neighborhood, northeast of Rose Avenue and Channel Islands Boulevard. (Answer: Yes, it's real.)

"I'm in shock," Lopez said as his daughters picked out bedrooms. When he saw the garage, he knew that's where his prized '63 Pontiac Bonneville would live.

With three bathrooms, the new digs will be a major step up from the place the family has been renting in Whittier. Living with five girls has meant getting up at "zero dark thirty" to get his showers in, Lopez mused, adding, "Even my dog's a girl."

The family — Lopez; his wife, Raquel, 29; his daughters, Cecilia, 11, Nahdia, 8, Sofia, 6, and Juliana, who turns 2 in December; and dog Roxy, a Maltese/Shih Tzu mix — is getting the home mortgage-free through a program launched in February by Operation Homefront. The Texas-based nonprofit formed in early 2002 helps military families and wounded warriors through what has become a range of programs.
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Operation Homefront Launches Annual Holiday Meals for Military

Operation Homefront Launches Annual Holiday Meals for Military Program
By Operation Homefront
Published: Monday, Oct. 29, 2012
SAN ANTONIO
PRNewswire-USNewswire

Operation Homefront, the national non-profit dedicated to providing emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our nation's military, has announced today that it is launching its annual Holiday Meals for Military program.

The Holiday Meals for Military Program began Thanksgiving 2009 as a result of a chance encounter in a supermarket in Utica, N.Y., near Ft. Drum. A soldier, his wife, and infant had a handful of grocery items they could not afford, so a Beam Inc. employee picked up the $12 cost for the groceries. Since that time, the program has grown from initially providing 500 meals kits to military families in 2009 to providing 5,200 this holiday season.

The 5,200 meal kits, which include all the grocery items necessary for a full holiday meal, will be distributed to lower and mid-grade ranking military families, E-1 thru E-6, at seventeen bases nationwide in December 2012, including Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Knox, Ky.; Great Lakes Naval Base, Ill.; and MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.
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Operation Homefront real help for veterans and families

Operation Homefront real help for veterans and families
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
October 28, 2012

On Friday as I was getting ready to meet a Mom struggling with trying to get her Iraq veteran son help with PTSD, my cell phone rang. An elderly woman called from Naples. She wanted to know where she could donate money to and didn't "want to donate to some frivolous charity" but wanted to make sure her money did some good for these men and women. I told her that Point Man Ministries of Florida doesn't need much money to do what we do but we do need some money to keep going. We need help with traveling and buying books/bibles, buying a meal for a veteran in need of spiritual comfort, paying ever rising phone bills and computer expenses, but not much else. We don't advertise, so no expense there. This work takes more time than anything else. Well, Christ did say, "Freely it was given to you, freely give" so considering words of comfort, understanding and compassion have no dollar sign, it doesn't cost me much.

There are a lot of people out there wanting to help but not sure where the money is going. I'd like you to take a look at a group here in Florida and take a look at what they do for what they claim the money goes to. They are actually making a real difference in veterans' lives!

Operation Homefront

Operation Homefront provides emergency assistance and morale to our troops, to the families they leave behind, and to wounded warriors when they return home. Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers in 30 chapters nationwide. Since its inception, Operation Homefront has provided critical assistance to more than 105,000 military families in need. Some of our most outstanding accomplishments are: more than 5 million dollars provided to military families in crises; goods and services valued at more than 6.5 million dollars to assist military families; and an excess of 20,000 care packages delivered to soldiers abroad with an additional 2,500 packages delivered to military families at home.

Charity Navigator Operation Homefront
Score (out of 70) Rating
Overall 66.06
Financial 64.43
Accountability and Transparency 70.00

Income Statement
(FYE 12/2011)
REVENUE
Total Contributions $24,462,035
Program Service Revenue $0
Total Primary Revenue $24,462,035
Other Revenue $110,814
TOTAL REVENUE $24,572,849

EXPENSES
Program Expenses $23,280,889
Administrative Expenses $568,731
Fundraising Expenses $828,370
TOTAL FUNCTIONAL EXPENSES $24,677,990

Payments to Affiliates $0
Excess (or Deficit) for the year $-105,141

Net Assets $9,696,674

Operation Homefront Florida

I sure wouldn't turn down a donation from anyone. (As a matter of fact right now I'm in dire need of it just to cover what I've already spent.) Point Man International Ministries needs donations, that's for sure but we don't need a lot. Operation Homefront needs more donations because what they do costs more. Considering they are helping families financially what they do is not free but it is priceless.

We've all heard about other groups out there interested more in making money by advertising everywhere and getting corporations to sponsor everything they end up doing, but here's a place that gives out of heart and that's an organization I can support. As a matter of fact, I have since 2008.

PTSD support for spouses

Disabled veterans suffer when the check is not in the mail

Wounded soldiers become homeless waiting for benefits

Operation Homefront moving in wounded and families

There are more but you get the idea.

Operation Homefront helps Iraq War veteran

Operation Homefront helps Iraq War veteran
BY KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Sep. 19, 2012

Ignacio Cruz's jaw dropped when he walked through the doorway of his new house Wednesday with his wife, son and daughter.

Though he said he was speechless, he managed to mouth: "Wow!"

Cruz, a 28-year-old medically retired Army staff sergeant, couldn't believe that only a short time ago he was a financially challenged Iraq War veteran. Having suffered a traumatic brain injury and still carrying the invisible wounds of war, he thought he had little chance of owning a home, let alone obtaining a mortgage-free one as he transitions to civilian life.

But thanks to Operation Homefront, Chase Bank and his new North Las Vegas neighbors who pitched in to put a new coat of blue paint on a former bank-owned, two-story home on Spruce Oak Drive, the Cruz family will be able to experience the American dream come true.
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Operation Homefront and CDW Computers is giving computers to deploying N.C. troops

N.C. troops to get computers before deploying

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 6, 2008 13:08:05 EST

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A nonprofit organization and a computer company will present 100 refurbished computers to the soldiers and the families of the 82nd Airborne Division preparing to deploy to Iraq.

Operation Homefront and CDW will present the computers Thursday to the paratroopers from the 82nd’s 3rd Brigade.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_braggcomputers_110608/

Wounded soldiers become homeless waiting for benefits

Wounded soldiers become homeless waiting for benefits
By David Edwards
(AP) Thousands of wounded soldiers discharged from the Army risk financial ruin as they wait six to nine months for their disability benefits. The Army has taken steps to ease the strain, but it’s taking awhile for those policies to take hold.

Nearly 20,000 disabled soldiers were discharged in the past two fiscal years, and lawmakers, veterans’ advocates and others say thousands could be facing financial ruin while they wait for their claims to be processed and their benefits to come through.

“The anecdotal evidence is depressing,” said Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., who heads a subcommittee on veterans disability benefits. “These veterans are getting medical care, but their family is going through this huge readjustment at the same time they’re dealing with financial difficulties.”
Most permanently disabled veterans qualify for payments from Social Security and the military or Veterans Affairs. Those sums can amount to about two-thirds of their active-duty pay. But until those checks show up, most disabled veterans draw a reduced Army paycheck.

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PTSD support for spouses

PTSD support for spouses
By Terri Barns, Special to Stars and Stripes
Scene, Sunday, March 2, 2008



In Spouse Calls blogger comments, one issue comes up more often than any other: Post traumatic stress disorder. Last week’s column included some of those comments from spouses with first- hand experience on the subject.

These messages are significant, both for their individuality and their similarities. Each spouse who watches a loved one suffer through the after- effects of combat has a unique experience, but there are also common feelings and frustrations:

• “This is not the person I married.”

• “He says he doesn’t want to be married any more.”

• “There is so much anger.”

• “Why is he kind to everyone but me?”

• “Am I the only one?”

I point out these similarities not to minimize the individuality of each experience, but to offer an answer to the last question: You are not alone.

There are so many questions I cannot answer, but I can point out resources for help and encouragement.

Operation Homefront is an organization created to meet needs within the military community. Meredith Leyva, a military spouse who founded the organization in 2001, recently announced an Operation Homefront program for spouses of wounded veterans.
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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=140&article=52956&source=rss