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Programs
quality of life grants
Grants Provided from Restricted Gifts
In January 2005, the Veterans Homes Foundation received 1,500 copies of the book, World
War II Memorial, from the book's author, the General Services Administration. This text
details the design and construction of the new national monument on Capitol Hill in Washington,
DC. The Foundation donated ten books to the library of every Veterans Home in the country.
The Foundation has also provided funding to the following Homes per the designated use
that has been specified by donors:
- New Hampshire Veterans Home:
Special therapy equipment for Alzheimer's patients.
- Soldiers Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts:
Construction of an outside pavilion.
- Oklahoma Veterans Centers:
Purchase on an ice cream make and aviary.
- Arkansas Veterans Home:
Grant to the Residents Fund.
- Missouri Veterans Homes:
Grant to the Missouri Veterans Trust Fund.
Grants Provided from Unrestricted Gifts
Veterans Homes need funding to assist residents with their personal necessity items, which
AFVHF believes to be a fundamental dignity-of-life issue. Every month, after residency
fees are paid, one-third of the residents are left with $1.67 or less for daily personal
needs. Some have as little as $1.17 per day for spending on anything from a tube of toothpaste
to a birthday card for a grandchild to a can of soda.
Additionally, at least 100 veterans in each Home require outside assistance to help them
purchase such basics as clothing and personal hygiene products.
The Board of Directors has authorized a pilot project to provide Homes in 20 states with
annual grants for these dignity-of-life needs. The Foundation has recruited a volunteer
field representative to work with the administrator at each location in determining the
specific use funds. AFVHF field representatives, often active-duty military personnel or
military retirees, also volunteer their time to these homes to supplement Foundation funding
- and contribute money and gifts-in-kind, both personally and from their military units.
The dignity-of-life grant program will be expanded as new funding becomes available. However,
the Board of Directors realizes that with over 30,000 veterans now residing in the Veterans
Homes system - an unrestricted grant to each Home of $100 per resident would require $3.0
million in funding annually. Therefore, AFVHF looks forward to the day when a national
fundraising campaign, consistent with its long-term goal, can be undertaken.
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