The Quality of Life Foundation had the honor to work with a combat wounded veteran, his spouse/caregiver and their two-year old son. In 2007, during a deployment to Iraq, combat exposure and a bomb explosion left the veteran with a catastrophic wound to his left arm as well as PTSD.
The family had heard about us from another family who was already enrolled in our Wounded Veteran Family Care Program. A recent storm had caused severe damage to their home and property. While insurance would cover most of the cost, a large deductible stood in the way of getting the repair work completed.
We reached out to several organizations to see about teaming with them to cover the deductible, thankfully, both Operation First Response and the Disabled Patriot Fund responded with funding for the deductible.
As we got to know the family, we became aware of two quality of life concerns, minor issues that many would not see as a big deal – however, for caregiving families, solutions to small issues can be a big help. The first was yard care, the veteran could no longer manually care for their ½ acre lawn – which left one more responsibility for his wife to manage. Second, the dishwasher no longer worked. After talking with several local businesses, the Family Support Coordinator was happy to receive an “Of course we will help” response from the Sears Outlet Store. Sears generously donated a dishwasher, and the equipment necessary to care for their yard! The caregiver now has a little more time on her hands and the veteran is happy to resume the task of caring for his own yard rather than relying on others.
It has been our pleasure to work with this family and we thank them for all they have done in service to country!