Veteran’s Voice — Hometown Heroes Housing Assistance for Veterans

Hometown Heroes Housing is a State of Florida program that provides lower-than-market interest rates on an FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac first mortgages, reduced upfront fees, no origination points or discount points, and down payment and closing cost assistance. It is open to law enforcement officers, firefighters, teachers, nurses, and military members, and veterans buying their first house. The program started last year and is receiving an additional $100 million for an additional year. Some program elements have also been adjusted for higher inflation. For more information on the Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program, please visit https://bit. ly/3q4GAAb

Seeking Veterans in need of custom adaptations or specialized assistive devices
The Quality of Life (QL+) Program is seeking Veterans with disabilities who would benefit from having custom specialized devices built for them to help with their active lifestyle or simply to enhance their everyday life. QL+ is a free program for Veterans in need of custom specialized devices to help with their active lifestyle. Some projects have included hiking prosthetics, kayak and bike lifts, wheelchair tire cleaners, specialized archery equipment, and even a rollerblading attachment for a prosthetic leg. For more information see https:// bit. ly/ 3QaXJD4

A Year In: Dial 988, then Press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line
Since the launch, the Veterans Crisis Line has handled one-million contacts, including over 750,000 calls—an increase of 12.5% from the same timeframe last year. The VA reports the average speed to answer a call is 9.37 seconds. In addition, there was a year-over-year increase in text messages (45%) and online chats received (8.6%). The VA cites these increases as evidence that the hotline is working. Unfortunately, it seems active-duty suicides are on the uptick.

Purple Heart Day, Aug. 7
Monday, Aug. 7 is National and Florida Purple Heart Day. Ask any combat veteran, and they will tell you that it is absolutely the one medal you do not want to get because it means you were wounded in combat. It is estimated about 1.8 million Purple Hearts have been awarded since April 1917, when the U.S. first entered World War I.

The medal prominently features a cameo of George Washington, who created the Badge of Military Merit,for wounded soldiers during the Revolutionary War. But, in those desperate days, often only a short strip of a purple ribbon was available to be given to those who earned the medal.

One slightly gruesome fact about the Purple Heart: in preparation for the invasion of Japan in World War II, a huge production run of Purple Heart medals was made in 1944-45. While fortunately that huge stock was not needed at the time, all of the medals awarded since that time to the present, are from that 1940s stock. To those who have suffered to earn the Purple Heart, salute!