National group helps wounded warriors purchase homes

On any given night, one of four homeless people in the U.S. is a veteran, according to a 2006 study titled "Vital Mission: Ending Homelessness Among Veterans." Information in this study has spurred Operation Homefront, a national troop-support group, to action.

The study estimated 195,827 veterans, nearly 25 percent of the nation's homeless population, were homeless on any given night in 2006.
Operation Homefront, which provides emergency assistance and promotes morale for troops and their families, is connecting wounded veterans, who can face financial trials during recovery, with home builders and mortgage lenders to make home ownership easier.

The group supports America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

"When the statistics came out about one in four homeless is a veteran, that was when we said, 'That's it,'" said Meredith Leyva, founder of Operation Homefront. "That's exactly what's going to happen to our guys if we don't have a long-term vision here and implement it now.

"(We are working with) ... home builders to basically sell their excess inventory to wounded warriors," Leyva said, explaining that her organization's role is to make connections and help negotiate the best deals possible. "These are good homes, and (the builders) are dropping the price by $30,000 to $50,000."

The goal is to sell entire swaths of neighborhoods, ideally near Veterans Affairs medical facilities, to wounded warriors, she said. This creates an understanding community.

"It's a community that's going to look out for each other," Leyva said. "And, even in the worst of times, they've still got their house."

To sweeten the deal further, Operation Homefront is working with mortgage lenders to negotiate lower interest rates on 30-year home loans.

The group also is asking lenders for a little compassion if a new homeowner should miss mortgage payments because of medical issues, Leyva said. It would require a statement from the doctor and a repayment plan, however, and there is no guarantee the original lender won't sell the loan to another company who might not be so understanding.

As excited as Operation Homefront is about the program, its officials are realistic about how long it will take to get up a head of steam.

"This is going to take months, because people just can't make a commitment of hundreds of thousands of dollars on either the builders' or the lenders' side without some serious thought as to how they're going to do it," she said. "It'll take a good three to six months to build up some really solid
commitments from builders and lenders."

Home builders in Arizona and the Houston Housing Authority in Texas have given the program a good start by committing a number of homes, Leyva said.