With the grant money provided by The Patriot Fund, Volunteers of America Veteran shelter, Home for the Brave, was able to provide 1,800 meals to Veterans in need. These meals were distributed out across a 30 day period in April, 2020 and served 60 meals per day for that month with our donation to Volunteers of America.
At the time the grant money was received, COVID-19, began to hit NJ. From a health perspective, individuals experiencing homelessness demonstrate higher rates of chronic health issues than the general population, putting them at much higher risk for having serious and sometimes fatal health complications once infected by the COVID-19 virus. They were significantly more reliant on crisis-oriented resources, such as emergency rooms. These individuals also tended to reside in congregate living conditions that pose a significant risk to others and seriously lack a recuperative environment that is conducive to a healthy recovery. Due to this, a portion of the grant money given to Volunteers of America was also used to purchase much needed personal protection gear for the clients, along with sanitation supplies. Being able to help Veterans in multiple ways through The Patriot Fund’s grant was heart warming to say the least.
Home for the Brave is a 30 bed, low demand transitional housing program for single, male veterans located in Camden, NJ. Volunteers of America Delaware offers service rich interim housing to clients 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. Their low-barrier residential programs offer clients individualized assessments, service planning, and case management. Their goal is to provide residents with direct, immediate services and referrals to community-based services to set clients on path to permanent housing. From intake to discharge, case management works with residents to assess the contributing factors for their homelessness and provide the necessary services based upon their individual service plans, and develop strengths and protective factors to lead to long term stability.
Thanks to The Patriot Fund, Volunteers of America was able to help Veterans in multiple ways through their generous grant, and this was heart warming to say the least.
– Emma Kimenhour, Philanthropic Gift Director at Volunteers of America