Chantilly, VA, November 9, 2016 — HomeAid Northern Virginia announced that it was awarded an $84,000 grant from The Home Depot Foundation to repair and upgrade the Fairfax home of Final Salute, a veteran founded and run nonprofit that provides transitional housing and support services to homeless women veterans and their children. HomeAid Northern Virginia (HANV) builds and renovates homeless shelters and supportive housing facilities via the donated expertise, labor and resources of local homebuilders – enabling nonprofit organizations serving vulnerable individuals and families to invest more of their budgets in supportive programs and services rather than building expenses.
“The funding provided by The Home Depot Foundation will allow us to provide critical repairs and upgrades to the Final Salute property that serves as a home to women veterans and their children who have fallen on hard times and who are in the process of regaining stability and rebuilding their lives. There are an estimated 55,000 homeless women vets in America – the fastest growing population of the homeless. Final Salute is an important program in that it serves the unique needs of female veterans, and in particular, single-mother veterans raising children,” said Christy Zeitz, executive director of HomeAid Northern Virginia. “We are incredibly grateful to The Home Depot Foundation for their generous gift. It is reassuring that prominent organizations like The Home Depot recognize the unique plight of female veterans who struggle with homelessness or housing insecurity and are willing to allocate funds to help the cause.”
“All too often, supportive housing programs for veterans aren’t tailored to the needs of women veterans, and more than 60 percent of government-funded programs that take in veterans don’t take in women, or don’t take in women with children, or have age limits on the children, or have limits on how many kids you can take. That is not the case with Final Salute,” said Jaspen (Jas) Boothe, founder of Final Salute and a Major currently serving in the Army Reserves. “A donation of this size from The Home Depot Foundation is absolutely amazing. There are not enough words to describe my gratitude for their support of women and children who are often a forgotten population.” Jas, who was deployed during the Operation Iraq Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom campaigns, faced homelessness herself when she lost her home to Hurricane Katrina and was simultaneously diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. She learned by direct experience that there were few veteran programs to provide assistance to both her and her son. Since founding Final Salute in 2010 to provide support to other women veterans like her, Jas and Final Salute have served more than 2,000 women across 30 U.S. states and territories.
The Final Salute home in Fairfax County provides 8,700 sq. ft. of living space for up to 10 residents – all female veterans and their children. The house currently has 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. With the renovation led by HomeAid and its “builder captain” Winchester Homes, overall living space will be reconfigured for 8 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms, with kitchen and bathroom upgrades, new fixtures, expanded storage and the overall space layout optimized for residents. A previously under-utilized area of the basement will be converted into living space—with a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen—for a live-in resident manager to provide ongoing services to house residents.
“The Home Depot Foundation is committed to improving the homes and lives of our U.S. military veterans,” said Erica Headlee, veteran housing grants manager, The Home Depot Foundation. “Final Salute provides unique support and services specifically for female veterans and their children. We are honored to help them serve those who have served us all.”
The Home Depot Foundation’s Veteran Housing Grants Program was created to provide grants to nonprofits like HomeAid Northern Virginia to fund the development and repair of housing for veterans. The Home Depot Foundation has invested more than $160 million in veteran-related causes since 2011 and is committed to investing a quarter of a billion dollars by 2020.
HomeAid Northern Virginia plans to host a ribbon-cutting and dedication event with Final Salute when the renovation is completed later this year; a more detailed event announcement will be forthcoming.
About HomeAid Northern Virginia
HomeAid Northern Virginia, a chapter of HomeAid America, convenes and mobilizes the local homebuilding business community and its trade partners to undertake new construction and major renovations for homeless shelters and supportive housing facilities owned by nonprofit service providers. Renovated and upgraded housing coupled with the support services provided by our partner organizations ultimately help homeless individuals and families in our community gain stability and get back on the road to self-sufficiency. Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the organization was started in 2001 by members of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association (NVBIA) and, since then, has completed more than 112 projects valued at more than $14.6 million, serving more than 97,000 homeless individuals.
About Giving Back at The Home Depot
Since the first The Home Depot store opened in 1979, giving back has been a core value for the Company and a passion for its associates. Today, The Home Depot, in partnership with The Home Depot Foundation, focuses its philanthropic efforts on improving the homes and lives of U.S. military veterans and their families and aiding communities affected by natural disasters. Through Team Depot, the Company’s associate-led volunteer force, thousands of associates dedicate their time and talents to these efforts in the communities where they live and work.
Since 2011, The Home Depot Foundation has invested more than $160 million to improve the homes and lives of veterans and is committed to investing a quarter of a billion dollars in veteran-related causes by 2020. Along with the help of Team Depot volunteers, it has improved more than 26,700 homes for veterans. To learn more and see Team Depot in action, visit www.homedepot.com/teamdepot.
