Veteran 2:
Veteran 2 served honorably in the US Army from 2000 to 2008 as a Petroleum Supply Specialist. During his time in service, he served in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Once leaving the Armed Forces, Veteran 2 maintained a suitable living for him and his family. Unfortunately, he was met with a legal matter in 2018 which has since been resolved.
He decided to pursue the start of his own business as a lawncare specialist, and the business was doing well. Around March 2021, Veteran 2 noticed that his VA compensation did not come in. While inquiring, he learned that there was an admin error in reporting that had him flagged as a fugitive. Because of this error, the VA suspended his compensation. The run-around he faced did not bring him answers so he continued to work hard on his job to keep his family together. The impact of COVID-19 began to reflect on his self-employment and eventually his equipment broke down with little income to repair it. The snowball effect of losing his VA compensation and self-employment income combined with the growing pile of bills, caused Veteran 2 and his family to lose their home.
Veteran 2 and his family, which include his wife, 17-year-old son and emotional support dog, began living out of their vehicle which he used for his lawncare business. He finally reached out to the VA, VOA, and various other organizations who told him to “exhaust all means of sustainment” before asking them for help. Veteran 2, being the Soldier he is, refused to accept failure and tried to make income any way he could. Selling plasma, food stamps, personal belongings, and even begging for assistance at gas stations are a few of the “means” he was trying to “exhaust”. Through these methods he was able to produce enough money to stay at a motel for the weekends and get the family some food.
Unable to get help from anywhere else, his caseworker at the VA directed him to the local VSO to see if they could assist with getting his benefits reinstated. The VSO, hearing Veteran 2’s story, immediately told him to reach out to Operation Decisive Victory (ODV). At the time this Veteran was introduced to the All-American Chapter, it had been more than three weeks since asking for help and Veteran 2 being declared homeless by the VA. The case management team at ODV began working on resolving his housing issue. Within three hours of Veteran 2 reaching out to ODV, the VA, VSO, and the SSVF program who brushed him off were all contacted again and temporary housing was approved. But he had no gas money to get his family to the hotel where the SSVF organization had approved housing for them. Just when Veteran 2 thought things were getting better, this curve ball came his way. Being late in the evening ODV reached out to fellow partner organization CVMA® 15-1 for some additional support for Veteran 2. Within hours a plan was put into place by them and Veteran 2 would have gas the next morning. ODV housed Veteran 2 and his family at the hotel they were staying at so that they would not need to stay in their vehicle until CVMA® 15-1 could meet with them and provide them with gas assistance.
Ultimately, Veteran 2 received continuing support from the All-American Chapter, ODV, SSVF, the VA, and others. He has since re-started his Lawncare business and is moving forward towards long-term sustainability for him and his family.
