07/05/2019
News Release February 12, 2019
Friends of Veterans, a non-profit organization in White River Junction, Vermont recently announced that for the second successive year the organization has provided over $100,000 to veterans and their families who reside in New Hampshire and Vermont. For the two-year period of 2017 and 2018, Friends of Veterans (FOV) has averaged $120K in assistance. In comparison, during 2011 and 2012, the organization averaged $25K.
FOV is an all-volunteer organization- there is no paid staff. The basic mission is preventing homelessness for veterans; the types of assistance that the organization provides is directly associated with keeping veterans and their families off the streets. Rental assistance when eviction is imminent and mortgage assistance when foreclosure is imminent were the initial endeavors when FOV started some thirty plus years ago. Over the last several years FOV has increased its financial assistance to include heating fuel when state and local agencies have exhausted their resources. Fuel assistance has been accomplished through a partnership and grant with the Red River Charitable Foundation in Claremont, New Hampshire. Recently, FOV has started assisting veterans in need of home repairs if it is a livability issue- such as losing the furnace in the winter. The latest offering, also in partnership with the Red River Charitable Foundation and with a special service dog grant, has been working with combat veterans with PTSD to acquire a certified service dog. Recent efforts have resulted in two New Hampshire veterans with serious injuries from IED explosions attain a service dog.
Friends of Veterans raises money through volunteer grant writing and through its annual golf fundraiser. FOV often partners with other organizations to share the cost of the veteran assistance. The organization feels it is in a unique financial situation because all individual donations and grant monies are used to assist veterans. FOV’s annual fundraising event is used to pay overhead and operating expenses.
Over the last several years, the organization assisted veterans from all over the two-state area- from Bennington to St Albans and from Nashua to Littleton. In 2017 and 2018, a total of 337 veterans and their families received financial assistance from FOV.
FOV receives referrals on a daily basis from VA social workers through- out the two-state area and from a number of other agencies. Veterans in need of assistance can apply through the website www.fovvtnh.org, inquire via e-mail at [email protected] or call the office at 802 296-8368. In addition, the organization is always looking for new volunteers (veterans and non-veterans) to spend four hours a week doing case work, grant writing or assisting with IT systems.
