Last Updated on December 9, 2024 by Luke Feldbrugge
The Homes for Heroes Foundation awarded the National Veterans Homeless Support (NVHS) a $5,000 grant to help support three of their specific programs: Search and Rescue Program, Post-Traumatic Stress Awareness Program, and their Transitional Housing Program.
National Veterans Homeless Support Check Presentation with Jay Flynn
The grant check presentation interview was conducted by Homes for Heroes Foundation Director, Jay Flynn. Local Homes for Heroes Real Estate Specialist, Savannah Stevens, joined Jay to interview George Taylor Jr., President/Chairman of the National Veterans Homeless Support.
You can watch the full interview or read about it below.
Jay: Thanks for joining us today. I’m Jay Flynn, Director of the Home for Heroes Foundation. I’m joined today by National Veterans Homeless Support President/Chairman, George Taylor Jr. And Savannah Stevens, Home for Heroes, real estate specialist.
It’s my honor to be here with you. George, through the Homes for Heroes Circle of Giving, the Homes for Heroes Foundation is able to provide grants to nonprofits whose mission is to help our heroes in need.
Savannah and I are honored to present this $5,000 Homes for Heroes Foundation grant to National Veterans Homeless Support.
Congrats! I wish we had a big crowd in the background.
Let’s chat for a bit about National Veterans Homeless Support and so we can learn more about what you are doing. Tell us how you were created, where the National Veterans Homeless Support came from, and how long you’ve been serving veterans.
George: So my father, in 2008, he founded the organization here in Brevard County, Florida. Essentially, he started it because at the time there were 1,800 homeless veterans in Brevard County. Meaning, there were likely 10,000 homeless veterans living in every little patch of woods all over the county.
My father and his friends were members of the Disabled American Veterans chapter, so they would go into the woods find homeless veterans and encourage them to file their VA claims.
With all the homelessness that was happening around the Great Recession, some of the local governments were handling it the best they could. Essentially, they would tear up some of the homeless veteran camps.
So my dad was like, let’s start an organization, buy a piece of land, and all the homeless vets can go live there and nobody will bother them. What you find out real quick is that nobody wants a tent city in their neighborhood.
I came aboard in 2009 and took a look at what the organization was really doing. What was unique was we were going into the woods, meeting homeless veterans where they were, and connecting them to resources that would help them get off the streets.
So, our mission became eliminating veteran homelessness in Central Florida. We worked really hard on that mission. Fast forward to today. In January, there were 170 homeless veterans in Brevard County, and that’s over a 90% reduction since we were founded.
Since then, we’ve expanded our services to include transitional housing. We have a couple of homes available to homeless veterans.
The other big part that’s really growing in our program is prevention of homelessness. So a veteran receives an eviction notice. We step in and provide case management and find the root cause of what happened. And then, give them the financial resources, either through ourselves or through partner agencies that grant funding specific to their needs.
That’s pretty much in a nutshell. My father loved the sound of “National” for him and his buddies to have a big sounding organization helping vets. But we’re a relatively small organization, about six full time folks, and about 15 volunteers that keep this machine going.
Jay: That is awesome. And it sounds like you guys really made a big difference.
George: Oh, yeah. In Brevard County in particular, 10% of the population are veterans, which is kind of unique nationwide. Over the last 15 years, we’ve built relationships with the sheriff and the chief of police, and now we have a system where if a veteran is in trouble, they’ll give us a call, and give us a moment to work with the veteran.
Honestly, we’re very blessed to be where we’re at. It was not always like that. But, as we started showing people the work we do, they became inspired and supported our efforts.
Savannah: How cool to be able to rally your whole community around the same goal, to bring your whole community together like that to support veterans. Amazing. It’s completely amazing.
Jay: So, Savannah, I know you’re a big supporter of all of our heroes as a Homes for Heroes real estate specialist. What led you to nominate these folks for the Homes for Heroes Foundation grant?
Savannah: Well, like you just heard, kind of a no brainer, right? So like you said, I’m a really big supporter of all things heroes.
I’m a military spouse. I was an ER nurse for about a decade. So I knew that when I started doing real estate, that serving heroes was going to be kind of the foundation of my real estate practice. And so as soon as I joined homes for heroes, I made it kind of my priority to go out and meet other nonprofits that had my same goal in mind.
These guys were actually one of the first that I came across. Lucky, right? After my first meeting with them, I was completely blown away with all the good that they’ve done for my community. And I felt it was a no brainer to put the nomination in for them. And I’m so happy it came to fruition. I’m honored to be a part of it, even if only in a small way.
I know they will continue doing amazing things with this money. So thank you guys so much.
Jay: That’s awesome. So, George, how do you plan to use this $5,000 grant to support our veterans?
George: If you look at 2019 to today, on average rent in Central Florida (and as a whole) has increased 33%. Incomes remain flat due to inflation. So average people, regular people, not just, extremely low income people, find themselves on the verge of homelessness. So in 2020, we started offering financial assistance for veterans.
It’s more around Christmas time, where somebody nominates a veteran that’s not able to pay a bill, we will pay a bill for them, or something like that. Helping to alleviate the holiday pressure.
Before we could make a good dent in someone’s tough situation for a couple of hundred dollars. But now, with rent at $1,800 for a two bedroom, and two months behind is $3,600 is the impact.
Fortunately, because of partnerships like this, we have not turned anybody away due to budgetary concerns, but it’s been very intense. 20% increase within one year and just clients needing this kind of assistance.
Just in the last year, we had 102 veteran families, equating to almost 200 people total that we helped prevent them from entering a homeless situation.
That’s what we’re going to use these funds for, 100% will go toward that process, keeping veterans and their families out of homelessness. We’re very dedicated to that.
Jay: That’s awesome that you guys are like a point of intervention to keep the bad thing from happening.
So you talked about how you are going to use funds, George, do you have a story that you could talk to us about that kind of shows the impact that your organization made on a specific veterans life?
George: Absolutely. It’s a good story because it’s relatable to a lot of people in the community, not just veterans.
So Jasmine, is an Army veteran, single mother who was pregnant at the time and was working and essentially had a plan to work until one month left in her pregnancy, and saved enough money to carry her through her maternity leave.
Unfortunately, she ended up having some medical complications that required her to be on bedrest. Months before she was ready. And so as a result, you have a single mother, about to have a baby, who receives an eviction notice, and is about to be put on the streets.
We were not only able to get her in a good spot with her past due rent, but we also paid two months into the future so she can just chill out and get healthy.
She ended up having her baby, and we ended up getting her income reevaluated with case management because she had a subsidized housing voucher for veterans. And, we ended up getting her minimum payment dropped significantly so she can be sustainable moving forward.
Jay: So I checked out your website. I really liked the Get Involved page. How can folks get involved?
George: We try to make it as simple as possible. Go to our website and we have three options front and center.
“Get Involved” is where we post our volunteer opportunities. We have our Get Help page, which is HIPAA compliant, and it can take pictures of all your supporting documentation. It takes like three minutes.
It acts as an intake form, so we gather all their information regarding their situation so we can react rapidly and customize our response for them. So it’s really quick and easy.
And obviously, the organization doesn’t survive on beans, you know, so we need cash donations. And like this $5,000 check, we obviously take donations on the website also. And, we’re on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter or X posting stuff constantly.
Jay: That’s awesome. So, Savannah, it sounds like you are right there in the heart of helping heroes with these guys. I mean, you guys are doing such a great job.
Savannah: Yeah. It really felt like fate meeting them. Like I said, they were one of my first nonprofits that I met. And, I was like, boom! Jackpot. These guys are doing exactly what my goal is for serving heroes in the community, and that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.
Jay: Awesome. Thank you both for taking some time to chat with me today, and for everything that you guys are doing to support our heroes.
For those that are watching, thank you for taking time out of your day to join us to learn more about National Veterans Homeless Support (NVHS) and its mission of service to our veterans; keeping them from becoming homeless.
Thank you for tuning in and remember, just take a moment out of your day to thank a hero.
Homes for Heroes Circle of Giving
Grants from the Homes for Heroes Foundation are made possible by the Homes for Heroes Circle of Giving and its network of real estate and mortgage professionals. Homes for Heroes, Inc. is committed to providing savings to community heroes; such as firefighters, EMS, law enforcement, military (active duty, reserves and veterans), healthcare professionals and teachers.
To expand its Circle of Giving, Homes for Heroes, Inc., donates a portion of its earnings to the Homes for Heroes Foundation. So, every time a hero buys or sells a home using the Homes for Heroes program, they are helping other heroes across the country who are facing a housing crisis or are in need of urgent financial assistance.
If you are interested in learning more about how Homes for Heroes can guide you through the home buying, selling or refinancing process AND save you an average of $3,000 after closing on a home, simply sign up to be connected with our local specialists. They will follow up with you to answer all of your questions.
If you’re interested in learning about our wider impact, simply visit the Homes for Heroes Foundation for more information about recent grants to hero organizations, how much it has awarded, and how it all works.
If you’re interested in supporting and donating to the Homes for Heroes Foundation to assist heroes in need, please visit the donation page to submit your contribution via PayPal. And, thank you for your interest and support.
