Wounded Veterans Program

	Click Here to hear the radio spot on The Steve Mason Show, ESPN 710 (Dec.12, 2007) Click Here to hear the radio spot on Loose Cannons, KLAC-AM 570 (Feb.28, 2008)

Read about our kick-off event in Los Angeles and view photos

To create dignified housing with educational services, job-skills training, and nurturing support that enable today's wounded veterans to return to a productive life back home.

Thousands of military veterans are returning from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan with debilitating physical and mental injuries. These wounded veterans, many of whom are 19 to 25 years old, face a 15.8-percent unemployment rate, which is more than three times the national average.

Unemployment's impact is insidious: it diminishes self-worth, undermines family stability, and increases the likelihood of depression, substance abuse, homelessness, and suicide.

Employment plays a crucial role in breaking the downward spiral, and this Program will provide our young heroes with the tools and knowledge they need to become employed.

Program Leader

Led by Pat Riley, NBA head coach and president of the
Miami Heat, businessman, top-selling author, community leader, and motivational speaker, he recognized the problems facing today's veterans and decided to take action to help them.

"They are our protectors, our gatekeepers. They risk everything for us. It is our responsibility to do something for them!"

Through Riley's leadership, HomeAid will manage the Wounded Veterans Program to build facilities across the U.S. that will provide supportive services to help these heroes come home,
attain self-sufficiency, and move forward with dignity and pride.

THE SOLUTION - HOMEAID WOUNDED VETERANS PROGRAM
Led by Pat Riley, the Program Defines Three Elements Required to Solving This Crisis:

• A place for wounded veterans to call home during their transition
• Support services with a specific focus on employability
• An organization with the credibility, experience and nationwide breadth to establish and manage a response to veterans' needs.

A Nurturing Environment
Requisite job training must be provided in a nurturing environment that offers emotional, physical,
and mental support. Multiple service providers will be sought to provide these life-enhancing services.

Job- and Life-Skills Training

• Lack of specific job training coupled with their wounds places many veterans at a disadvantage when seeking employment
• Skills training received in the military often is not transferable or may not be fully appreciated by employers
• A veteran's physical, mental, or emotional wounds may inhibit use of military training.
  

Credible and Experienced Organization to Establish and Manage Veterans Housing
For the housing and management components, Mr. Riley selected HomeAid. Since 1989, HomeAid, a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, has successfully marshaled the resources of the construction industry to build and donate housing to service provider organizations that serve individuals and families who are temporarily homeless. HomeAid has built more than 150 multi-unit facilities, serviced more than 80,000 individuals, and developed a housing portfolio that exceeds $200 million. Through HomeAid, the Wounded Veterans Program will build multi-unit housing facilities across the U.S. that will be donated to the service provider organizations that offer the support and educational services. Under Mr. Riley's leadership, HomeAid will manage the Program's day-to-day operations.