According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, about 38,00 veterans were homeless in 2018, while, as the US Department of Veterans Affairs shared, more than 82,000 lived in nursing homes.
Those people who once served the country, are now living thanks to the generosity of others. Also, some of them often have health issues that go untreated when the veterans live on the streets.
Thankfully, there are people who are willing to open their homes and their hearts to these heroes, and the impact that their magnanimity has is unbelievable.
Thanks to the VA’s Medical Foster Home Program, veterans now have the chance to live in private homes with families instead of going to a nursing home.
Living with a family costs less than a veteran moving into a nursing home. The host family receives about $2,400 a month per veteran.
American families are also benefitted from this program since they get some extra income, while they also have the chance to learn a lot from the people that once sacrificed serving the country!
Just like a family of eight in Indiana, who decided to foster three disabled veterans.
The family has six kids, but they were generous enough to say yes to three veterans, each with a different health issue, who they took in and incorporated into their daily life.
Their life together has not only helped these veterans find meaning in life, but it has also helped the family members to spend more quality time together, sharing unique experiences.
The children, who are all homeschooled, spend time with the veterans, doing fun activities like music therapy, or watching movies with them.
It certainly teaches them a lesson every time they gather around the table or every time they sing a song together.
As the children of the family admit, the veterans that live with them are now family to them. And how couldn’t they, when they spend so much time together.
But things are not always easy when you have so many people to take care of. Every morning, besides preparing breakfast for the whole family, these people also have to do certain tasks, which are different for each veteran they host.
“Depending on the veteran, we may have to toilet them, bathe them, dress them, shave them, feed them,” the mother of the family explained to CBS Mornings.
And, although it may now look like they have everything under control, the couple admits that when they first joined the program, things were not so easy.
“When we first got our first veteran,” the father recalls, “after two days [my wife was] like, ‘I can’t do this’. Now we’ve been doing this for four years, so we’re doing good.”
There will certainly be good days and bad days when you’re sharing your life with so many people, especially when some of those people need medical help and special care. Still, it’s a great opportunity to return to them the good they did by serving in the military.
The mom shared:
“It’s a sacrifice, it’s service, but they deserve it.”
Watch the family talking about their life with the veterans in the video below!
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