I believe we all have dreams…certain things that we want in life, maybe, for ourselves or for someone else. How many of us wish that they had a MILLION dollars? That would solve everything, right? Wrong!
Many come into riches only to blow it away, often accompanied by despair, heartache, and worse. Choices in life have consequences, and our lives are determined by our choices. However, it isn’t that simple, sometimes the choices we make are under duress or influences outside of our understanding.
I experienced the homeless plight, firsthand, while visiting San Francisco many years ago. That visit changed my life. What stunned me was many were veterans! It was unthinkable that our Nation’s Heroes were left to rot by the trolley tracks. The more I looked, the more I saw; homelessness was and is a big problem. I called the mayor and wanted to ask how that this could happen? No resources, I was told, to devote to that problem. The only action that was explained to me was that the city kept track on how they were found deceased!
That moment in time for me – the realization that horror was going on in plain sit, made me feel helpless. So, I decided to do something about, is to create and start a charity that worked with veterans to keep them from becoming homeless or help them out of their homeless status. Starting up a charity is a time consuming and lifelong endeavor. I know, for I have 28 years of my life involved in this MISSION and I am grateful.
As we built our base and made connections, we learned how to help. Veterans’ Outreach has helped veterans tens of thousands of times with financial assistance, food boxes, free apparel and household goods, and lots of TLC. Yet, we see veterans that have issues with transitioning to civilian life and end up in trouble, trouble that could destroy the rest of their lives. That bothered me, I wanted to do more.
When I least expected it, the LORD shined a “beacon of hope”, out of the great state of Kentucky. A volunteer named Roger donated 110.5 acres of APPALACHIA that had been in his family for 100 years.
He asked me if I thought that I could use it to help veterans. I mulled over the possibilities for the best ways to help these hapless warriors. Well, my dream was to help rid the nation of its homeless veterans, especially. Giving their lives back was the mission.
My idea was to build a retreat where they could together and live for 6 months and work towards a deserved future. Work the land and reconnect to nature, clear away the past through various therapies, build for the future with training that suits their skills. Not just to have them expire in a cubical with the bare necessities of life, but to give them a way to share the American Dream, that they risked their lives for. That is my DREAM. The AMERICAN DREAM doesn’t have to be out of reach for them or be dead to them, with this MISSION.
Spiritually, Emotionally, Strengthening, Knowledge, Job Security, and Social Developments are all part of what we need, and should have, to navigate the elements of a successful life. I call it, “Heroes’ Passage, A Retreat for Veterans”. You can read more about this project on our website veteransoutreach.org
Below are the lyrics to a song that I find inspirational, and I believe will be the theme song for this project which could be the “Beacon of Hope” for many of our veterans.
If you’ve never heard this song, check it out.
“If I Can Dream” by Elvis Presley
There must be lights burning brighter somewhere.
Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue.
If I can dream of a better land
Where all my brothers walk hand in hand
Tell me why, oh why, oh why can’t my dream come true?
There must be peace and understanding… sometime.
Strong winds of promise that will blow away
All the doubt and fear.
If I can dream of a warmer sun
Where hope keeps shining on everyone
Tell me why, oh why, oh why won’t that sun appear?
We’re lost in a cloud
With too much rain.
We’re trapped in a world
That’s troubled with pain.
But as long as a man
Has the strength to dream
He can redeem his soul and fly!
Deep in my heart there’s a trembling… question,
Still I am sure that the answer’s gonna come somehow.
Out there in the dark, there’s a beckoning candle,
And while I can think, while I can talk,
While I can stand, while I can walk,
While I can dream, please let my dream
Come true, right now.
Let it come true right now.
If you would like to help with this project, donations….100% of goes to this project. If you have a talent that you feel that you can help with? Please contact us. We thank you for your interests in making this dream for all veterans come true.
www.veteransoutreach.org
[email protected]
330-755-5792 (office)
330-398-2904 (cell)