Recently, a 300-foot long traveling replica of the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial came to Moundsville. The community came out in droves to
honor those who have served in all of America’s
wars.
From one end of the main street to the other, store owners displayed
photos and uniforms of local veterans. There were a lot of service-related
booths. Fifteen-year-old Emma Chaney was in one of them.
“I am handing out stickers and brochures to everyone that
walks past,” Chaney says. “We’re Helping Heroes. We’re trying to help homeless
veterans, or at-risk homeless veterans. I think it’s really sad that people go
over there and fight and they don’t have a home.”
Helping Heroes is a non-profit organization whose volunteers
are converting several old buildings in downtown Moundsville into a resource
center and a homeless shelter for vets. Iraq
war veteran Jeremy Harrison works at the Wheeling
Veterans Center,
run by the US Department of Veteran Affairs.
“Working at the Vet
Center I saw a lot of need that we
couldn’t address specifically there,” Harrison says. I
felt there was a need for an agency not only here in Marshall
County to serve veterans,
specifically to the homeless and near-homeless population, there was nothing
around that’s veteran themed. There are some homeless agencies but nothing
specific for veterans.”
Jeremy and his wife Susan brainstormed about the problem. Susan
Harrison is a social worker and now the Acting Executive Director for Helping
Heroes.
“We
started thinking about what were the needs and how to get people in the front
door,” Susan remembers.
“And we know that veterans are an increasing homeless population. We know that
they are prideful and that the stigma of admitting that there is a problem is
difficult and so we wanted to create a place that would allow wives or spouses
to be able to come in the door and ask for more information, what’s out there,
how to transition from active duty or a reservist job into civilian life.”
In 2010
Helping Heroes was incorporated and they eventually bought three dilapidated
but adjacent buildings in downtown Moundsville. The organization had a lot of
work to do – gutting, re-wiring, re-flooring, building new walls and hanging
new ceilings.
After two years of working weekends and evenings, volunteers have
just completed the ground floor veterans’ resource center. Leila Miller
is the resource development coordinator for Helping Heroes. She described what
can be done in the center.
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Leila Miller in new veterans' center
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“Let’s say that you call us,” Miller says. “Say you hear
about us online or on a brochure and you call us. We will meet with you by
appointment here at the veterans’ resource center. Thanks to local foundations
we’ve been able to set that up with computers, internet, so I can sit down with
you and work with you on your job search, your resume and figure out your
housing stability plan.”
Miller can help vets find jobs or get job training; she can
help them create budgets; and, she can make sure they get the Veterans’ Affairs
benefits that they’re entitled to.
Helping Heroes has already assisted several veterans who
were homeless or in danger of losing their homes.
“An Iraq
war vet who was injured and was not able to work,” Jeremy Harrison remembers. “He
was not able to pay rent on his apartment for six months because he and his
wife just didn’t have the money to pay for it. They were getting evicted. We
paid the deposit and the first month’s rent for a new place and got him a job
cutting some grass to make a little extra money. We helped him get enrolled in
college and he was getting his GI Bill, so they ended up having money and are
doing okay."
There will eventually be three apartments upstairs above the
resource center where homeless vets can stay while they find a place of their
own.
Jeremy gave a tour: “When we were done, this up here, from
the beginning to the back, was just open. This wall
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Miller and Harrison in apartments
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right here was completely
replaced. This floor was completely replaced because it sloped at about a 45
degree angle. What you see here is the living room. Behind you is a bedroom.
This is the only apartment we have that can fit a family.”
The Christian Fellowship Foundation provided significant
support. Local volunteers, veterans, and veteran organizations provided the
labor. And local businesses donated much needed supplies.
“All the drywall was donated by Certainteed out of
Moundsville,” Jeremy says. “They told us if we needed anymore, just let them
know. All the windows, too. Rain Cii, a company in Moundsville, they do a
community project each year, so they bought 17 new windows – all the windows
that are up here – and installed them.”
The heating, air-conditioning and plumbing is all done. Helping
Heroes is waiting for either a donated sprinkler system or the funds to buy
one. After that, they’ll paint and install carpeting and the apartments will be
ready to help veterans
In an adjoining building, Helping Heroes has started a war
museum. The Harrisons thought the museum would attract
veterans, and that might be another way to connect with vets who need help. It
began with Jeremy’s personal collection, but then it grew. Susan says a local woman recently donated
her husband’s memorabilia from Vietnam and her father’s WWII memorabilia.
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| Museum |
“She was
so excited and so proud to have them displayed,” Susan Harrison says. “We hear
from a lot of veterans and their family members, ‘I just hate the fact that
this has been in a box in my attic. People aren’t getting to see it or
appreciate it.” To have a place locally where people can go see and learn about
it is really important to those veterans and their families. It’s humbling to
see other people really enjoy and respect what we’re trying to do.”
“We have
high hopes and big dreams and with the amount of support we’ve been getting
already,” says Jeremy Harrison. “I think we’re going to be able to make a lot
of that happen.”