(The contents of this letter is preliminary at this time. The following may be updated as new information becomes available.) I would like to offer a proposal to help the homeless, especially the homeless veterans. However, I know that the undertaking that I have in mind will require major assistance. I know from personal experience that without help, there is little to no chance of getting anywhe
re with politicians, government agencies, and other entities that work with veterans in some capacity, such as the “V. That being said, I do not want this project to be used for politicking. In other words, politicians will typically take up a cause just to get votes and or to make them and their party look good; but I digress. I looked up closed military bases and it seems that there are a lot of them as of late. I also looked up abandoned cities and towns since I have heard recently that there are such places in this country. Who will pay for this project? Telethon as an example, it started in 1959 and ended in 2014. The first telethon is reported to have made $575,208.00 and the highest amount made was $65,031,393.00 back in 2008. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jerry_Lewis_MDA_Labor_Day_Telethon)
Therefore, I would suggest a “Veteran’s Day” telethon as a way to raise money for this venture. Other suggested areas of donations could come from public and private donations, as well as “crowd funding”. How will this program be run? I would suggest that since the program will primarily be assisting military veterans, that it be based on the standards and chain of command presently used in the military, since that is how they were trained. For example, any veterans who have the training and experience will be vetted for managerial / office work. Here is how I see the program running. The minimum number of “reintegration bases” would be 50, as well as “bases” on its 16 territories at present if needed. All bases will be modified as needed to provide for the care of the tenants living there. Examples of modifications will be turning aircraft hangars into suitable dorm type housing. All homeless veterans will be invited to these bases. They cannot be forced to go. They will be given complete medical and psychological exams to ascertain present heath situations. Showers, food, and housing will be provided on these bases. A vocational / technical evaluation will be made to determine what skills these tenants have. Any tenants that do not have any skills that would allow them to get employment will be trained in another field. After the Veterans have gone through the program, where will they live and or work? I have come across videos and articles concerning abandoned U. cities and towns. However, these places would have to be researched for the following:
How easy is it to get to these places? What are the present conditions of these places? How difficult will it be to bring the structures up to code? Those veterans who have experience in all forms of construction will be required to assist in all reconstruction known as “sweat equity”. Sweat Equity refers to a party’s contribution to a project in the form of effort and toil, as opposed to financial equity such as paying others to perform the task. Habitat for Humanity is one organization that uses this model. Assuming that these places, assuming that they are viable, can be brought up to code, they will be considered extensions of the “reintegration bases” until such time that elections for local political offices and the like can be deemed possible in accordance with local, county, state, and federal laws. Sincerely,
George Evans Pierson
