Veteran’s Voice — Overwhelming Wounded Warrior adaptive home need going unmet

A community kickoff fund raising event was held in Kissimmee Saturday to construct an adaptive house for an Iraq veteran who lost his left leg up to the hip and must use crutches or a wheelchair to get around.

I have seen and heard of disabled veterans receiving new homes many times, but the recent local effort got me wondering – doesn’t Veterans Affairs pay for this? The answer is, yes, technically they do, but on a ridiculously limited basis. Each year the VA provides funding for approximately 120 homes nationally, but only up to $110,000 maximum — worse than the proverbial “day late, dollar short.”

There are also grants to modify existing homes, and that program has been put to good use for several veterans in our community through a partnership between the Osceola Council on Aging and The Home Depot. For more information on the VA’s Disability housing grants for veterans, see http://bit.ly/3iCaNTA.

The organization constructing the Kissimmee home, Homes for Our Troops, builds about 25 homes each year, has over 100 applicants and estimates there are over 1,000 severely disabled veterans out there that meet the severe disability criteria. This is a very sad situation, and now that the heavy fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has come to a close, some sustained funding for just a few years would eliminate this backlog. Good on the private, nonprofit organizations that have been standing in the gap to make up for this lack of VA funding, which, of course, ultimately comes from Congress. For more information on Homes for Our Troops, see https:// www.hfotusa.org.

Patriot Scholarships for U.S. Army Student Veterans: Army student veterans interested in the annual Raytheon Patriot Scholarship can now apply at Raytheon Missiles & Defense Patriot Scholarship – Student Veterans of America. The application process will remain open until April 7, 2023. The requirements are pretty straight forward, and there are only two $10,000 scholarships so the competition is bound to be stiff. More information at http://bit.ly/3GDcLLg.

Onward and Upward! No, this is not the new Space Force’s Buzz Lightyear-inspired motto, it is a free career training and professional certification program from Onward to Opportunity (O2O) through Syracuse University, and “advertised” to veterans though the VA. Active Duty, Veterans, National Guard and Reserve, and spouses are all eligible. Visit the Onward to Opportunity website to learn more or to apply for one of the 40+ professional pathways, mostly IT and Business/ Project management. More information here- http:// bit.ly/3WiOFep.