Hearts & Homes For Veterans (October 2020)

Issue Four- October 2020:

By Mercedes Barreto

Mission Statement:

Hearts and Homes for Veterans are committed to empowering these veterans to lift themselves out of poverty and then, in turn, reach back and help other veterans do the same.

Our Philosophy: Low income and very low-income Veterans should not pay more than 30% of their gross income on housing, and our units are priced with this in mind. Many factors come into play in determining the rental rate, such as the Veteran’s health care costs, employment status, and debt. 

We stand ready to help, providing services to meet the needs of our Veterans.

We use our time, talent, and donations to support Veterans’ causes in Lee County.

*Veteran receives Christmas Cards.

What kinds of requests do you receive when taking care of day to day tasks involving the efforts to
prevent and stop homelessness amongst veterans?

“We receive a ton of requests every day. These range from potential donors looking to see if we need donations, to veterans calling with emergency issues like their electricity is getting turned off.
There are a plethora of agencies in South West Florida that we coordinate with as well, which requires logistical planning and support. Due to COVID-19, we have altered our business practices, we no longer allow “walk-ins” and have gone to an appointment-only concept. Daily, we have anywhere from 3 to 8 appointments for veterans looking for assistance.

*Single Veteran Parent Receives Free Car.

To prevent and stop homelessness in the veteran population, we are creating a training room. This training room will be used for classes on financial responsibility, resume writing, interviewing techniques, and any other skill gap that our clients may have. This goes back to the adage that if you give a person a fish he will eat for a day, but if you teach him to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.”

Is there a protocol when dealing with veterans? What are some reactions from these veterans
when receiving assistance?

“Our protocol always starts with respect and courtesy. Our ultimate goal is to ensure every veteran that comes to us keeps their dignity. Most of these veterans are very proud and have only decided to finally ask for help because they had no other option.

To maintain them as a client and truly make a difference in their life, they must walk out with the same amount of dignity that they walked in with.

There is no judgment from our staff, we are simply giving a hand up to those who need it. We also have a very high % of veterans who come back to our organization to volunteer after they get on their feet.

The reactions that we typically see from veterans that we help are appreciation, hopefulness, and
inspiration. It is this inspiration that drives them to volunteer with us after they have recovered.

Can you tell me more about the initialization, and the main mission, behind Hearts & Homes For Veterans?

“This extraordinary organization’s story began with one man and a pickup truck.

That was in late 2012. Driven by a need to help fellow veterans, Don Payton set out on his own to locate and provide assistance for the homeless. As a combat Marine veteran who served in Vietnam, Don
was well aware of the struggles that some military personnel experience after their re-entry into
civilian life. Despite his own major health issues at the time, Don took it upon himself to reach
as many homeless veterans as possible, and do his part to set them on a positive track towards a
better life. Don’s vision for what could be done for homeless veterans, even as a grassroots
effort, quickly took shape and has resulted in the organization that we know today as Hearts and
Homes for Veterans, Inc.

Today, ‘Hearts and Homes’ serves both homeless veterans and those in
extreme poverty conditions (130% of the U.S. poverty level).
Don’s energy and passion for the task quickly spread, and within a short period of time, others joined the cause.  In February of 2013, a small group of Lee County Florida residents met to discuss ways to assist in addressing this urgent need in the community.

Like Don, most of these individuals were also veterans.
HH was incorporated in March of 2013 as a 501 C3. Within the first full year of operation, HH reached
out and served nearly 100 veterans. Since that first year, HH has served well more than 1000 veterans,
just since 2015…and did this with a cadre of volunteers.

Today, Don continues to lead the organization,
which since its inception has no paid staff on the Hearts and Homes payroll. No small factor in the early success of the organization was Don’s willingness to invest tens of thousands of dollars, from his own personal funds, directly into the organization.

Today, HH is housed in a Fort Myers Florida facility that
provides a central operating center for a still growing range of services to homeless veterans. Thanks to the generosity of individuals and local businesses, HH assets have grown tremendously. With that growth came opportunities to expand services well beyond the early years of HH.

Don’s vision of a comprehensive one-stop, citizen-led, service became a reality.

Is there a driving, motivating reason why people should look directly into helping your organization’s efforts to support your mission, and not just look away from it?

If so, what is that mission?

“The Mission: Hearts and Homes were formed not just to be another charity, but to end homelessness and assist low-income veterans in Southwest Florida. Our goal is to help veterans lift themselves out of poverty and then in turn reach back and help other veterans do the same.

These veterans stood in line for us and they should not have to stand in line for the basic
needs upon their return to civilian life.

They should not wait for housing, food, and essential elements of living a decent life. HH was formed to place our veterans first. The motivating reason that people should help our organization and not look away is that these
veterans, at some point in their lives, chose service over self.

They wrote a blank check to the United States government in the amount of “up to and including my life” on behalf of their fellow citizens and the American way of life.

It is for that reason that we should all get involved with fixing this problem and not look away from it.