Craig Middle School/Stonycreek Farm - On April 20th, 2007 a group of children from Craig Middle School participated in the United Way Youth Day of Caring. They came out to our Lyter House and planted flowers, shrubs and trees, and laid mulch around them. They worked very hard and seemed to take pride in what they were doing and why they were doing it. Loren Schmierer, owner of Stonycreek Farm, Nursery and Landscaping, donated the flowers, shrubs and trees. He also came out to landscape the front yard for us. Thank you to Craig Middle School and Loren!
Jun (2007) Volunteers
Enterprise Rent-A-Car - On April 21st, 2007 Enterprise employees cam out to volunteer at our Warman properties. They collected fallen limbs for mulching, trimmed and pulled weeds and picked up debris that was lying around. Thank you to Enterprise and their outstaning volunteer employees!
Apr (2007) Volunteers
Boy Scout Troup 174 - Troup 174 wanted to complete a project for HVAF. We met and discussed that we could use some clothing rasks to hand and organize our clothing. One troop member, Tim Bydlon (who was working on Eagle Scout at the time), designed a prototype for us to see if it would meet our needs. Ron Shelley looked over the prototype and made suggestions on improvements, and Tim changed the racks to better meet those needs. On February 24th, 2007 fifteen troop members including Tim came out to complete building the racks, sorted through numerous bags of clothing, and filled the racks to capacity, contributing over 6 1/2 hours of volunteer work. Each and every one of these outstanding young men should be very proud of the work they have done! All of this work helped get us another step closer to providing better services to our veterans and thei families.
Jan-Mar (2007) Volunteer
Rick S. - Rick has been married to his wife for 23 years and they have four children. He works as an Engineer at Eli Lilly and Co. "I started at HVAF when Russell Cox asked if I could help out on renovation of the Arlington House. I spent some time doing demolition and painting and a couple of months later I was asked to join the board. When I started with HVAF we had one house, no budget, and a 12x15 office that the VA let us use. We also had an agreement from the City of Indianapolis to give us four more houses. I am continually amazed at how much we have grown in the past 10 years and I am in awe of the HVAF staff, their dedication to our veterans and the organization. I am thrilled we have volunteers on the board who care about HVAF and help us grow. However, I think I'm most in awe of our veterans. They really inspire me with their tenacity and how they have overcome the hardships they have endured. I'm very impressed with how they help each other. I get so much more out of this organization than I put into it."
Oct-Dec (2006) Volunteer
Martin S. (better known as Marty). He was born in Indiana but later moved to Minnesota where he joined the Army National Guard and received training in artillery and track vehicles. He also trained in Fire Direction Center, DECON Teams and Nuclear Teams. He is currently involved in his Legion Post as Sgt. of Arms and Director of the American Legion Riders. Marty's interest in the military is what sparked his interest in starting up a motorcycle ride to help veterans who are down and out. Together with a few friends, veterans supporters, volunteers and the support of HVAF, the 1st Motorcycle ride was formed with great success.
Jul-Sep (2006) Volunteer
Courtenay N. She has been a Navy Reserve Sailor since March of 2000. In 2001 she started volunteering for HVAF to increase community awareness and contributions for homeless veterans. Courtenay served as website editor, photographer and contributor for HVAF's website as well as distributing magnets for the organization. She obtained donations of fleece material and volunteers to create 55 blankets, donating them to HVAF for distribution to the homeless by HVAF Community Outreach Volunteers in 2005, and created 170 blankets during the 2nd Annual Blankets for Homeless Veterans Project in 2006. Her Blankets for Homeless Veterans Project is completely driven and supported by volunteers and will continue to be so for years to come.
Apr-Jun (2006) Volunteer
Louise L. Louise is an exceptional lady. She has been with HVAF since it started back in 1993. From 1993 to 1997 she traveled the state of Indiana to raise awareness of homeless veterans. She participates in every Stand Down as the "Sock Lady" distributing hundreds of pairs of new socks for the veterans. She helps prepare dinners and supplies goody bags every year to our veterans at Post #34 Women's Auxiliary where she is actively involved. Louise has been the State Chairman for the American Legion Auxiliary for Vets, the District Chairman since 1993 for the Homeless and is serving her 20th year on the staff of Hoosier Girls State. Louise also volunteers at Knights of Columbus Ladies Group. Louise is always ready to lend a helping hand. HVAF dedicated a house for homeless veterans in her name, the Loyd House.
Apr-May (2006) Volunteer
Janet G. She has been volunteering her nursing services at The Freedom Center since April of 2005 and comes there every Thursday, rain or shine. As she recalls it, "I was inspired to help when I met Maggie and Danny." They told her about HVAF and about two homeless veterans who were diabetic patients. Her husband is a Vietnam veteran, and she says that she has always been a "people person" who wanted to help those less fortunate. "Helping people is a passion of mine," says Janet, "I've always been a caring big sister." She tells the HVAF guys that "I'm your big sister cheerleader," and she tells them to "do the program" because she knows "they can do it."
