“I hit rock bottom. It was freezing outside and I had nowhere to go.” Ray/Veteran
Read MoreA recent Homeland Heroes Foundation donation of Uber cards to Veterans FIRST will help many struggling former servicepersons take important steps towards changing their lives. This significant donation of 120 Uber cards, each worth $25, is earmarked for connecting Harbor Care veterans to services, employment, housing, and so much more.
Read MoreIn southern New Hampshire we celebrated Wreaths Across America Day at Last Rest Cemetery in Merrimack. The ceremony featured an Honor Guard, the laying of nine ceremonial wreaths and the playing of Taps. More than 300 volunteers then dispersed around the cemetery to place over 525 wreaths on the graves of fallen servicepersons.
Read MoreMayor Joyce Craig declared November as Veteran Appreciation Month, while visiting the residents and staff of BAE Systems Independence Hall, Harbor Care’s residential facility for veterans in Manchester. BAE Systems Independence Hall provides transitional living units and permanent housing to New Hampshire veterans and their families, with more than 26 bedrooms, apartments, and common areas.
Harbor Care’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families program (SSVF) received a three-year accreditation from the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, commonly known as CARF. This is the third 3-year award Harbor Care’s SSVF has received.
Read MoreWhen my husband Harry was serving in the Middle East, a coordinated attack involving three car-bombs killed several of his friends and left him seriously injured. Upon returning to the U.S., he spent several months in the hospital, and afterward needed extensive recuperative therapies during his long road toward recovery. He was lucky, but he challenges he faced demonstrate how grindingly difficult the transition is for those without a sturdy support system in place.
Read MoreThe New Hampshire Elks National Veterans Service Commission (NHENVSC) are staunch supporters of Harbor Care’s veterans in Nashua, but this was is their first time they visited our veterans’ facility in Manchester. When members of the NHENVSC learned that the vets of BAE-Independence Hall didn’t have a way to prepare food in their new, beautiful green space, they provided an additional $300 for a beautiful new grill.
Read MoreHenry Och, chief operating officer at Harbor Care, and member of the Massachusetts National Guard, was recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He formally received the promotion in a ceremony at Hanscom Air Force Base.
Read MoreWhen Erika Reinertson pulls up to a local town office on her Triumph motorcycle, she’s on a perpetual rescue mission to help fellow veterans. Erika is a case manager for Harbor Care’s Veterans FIRST program. Inside, she inquires if there’s a local veteran in need of support. She has already stopped at the nearby shelter and police station with the same questions. “I don’t wait for them to find me, I go and get them,” she says. “It’s that CAN DO attitude I got from the Navy.”
Read MoreOne of our many veterans serving veterans at Harbor Care, Richard O’Donnell is a former Staff Sergeant, having served in the U.S Army from 1995 to 2007. He joined the Battle Staff and was an instructor at the Army Instructor School in Vilseck, Germany. Later, he held the position of Instructor at the Army Leadership School at Fort Knox in Leadership & Management Development. Now he is a case manager in Harbor Care’s Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program, where he helps homeless vets find employment.
Read MoreShaun is 20 years removed from military service, yet still feels he is honoring that commitment. His connection with the individuals he works with goes beyond their shared veteran status. “We share the common experiences of knowing what it’s like to sleep outside in the cold, to struggle to get food, our addiction, to just survive. You’re not alone here, is what I can tell them.”
Read MoreFormer U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator David Tille has accepted this challenge, and joined Harbor Care as our first Director of Veteran Services.
Read MoreAfter nearly a year of COVID-19 precautions, Boulder Point residents were getting a bit of COVID-19 fatigue. White River Junction VA Medical Center staff decided to haul these vets out of their malaise. The VA’s Creative Arts Therapy Program staff suggested it was a job for donkeys.
Read MoreHarbor Care is grateful to Swim With A Mission (SWAM) for providing $260,000 to Boulder Point in support of COVID-19 relief. Then funds allowed us to build an annex at Boulder Point, in which our veterans can receive COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and other services while maintaining social distance.
Read MoreHarbor Care is working with local VA medical centers to ensure our resident veterans receive vaccinations against COVID-19.
Read MoreI served with the 7th Cavalry Regiment in Mosul, Iraq (2007) during the surge of the Iraq war as a junior medic in an infantry platoon. Tested through violence and operating under the most extreme pressures, I developed a commitment to detail that I bring to work with me as a case manager for the VA funded Supportive Services for Veterans & Families (SSVF) grant. Nowadays I use that commitment I learned with the 7th Cav to achieve housing stability for veteran households.
Read MoreMy name is Katie Paciulan and I am a United States Army veteran who served as a 31B (Military Police). While in the service. I served as a patrol officer and security detail for 630th MP Co & 793rd MP BN. I also did a lot of work around suicide prevention. I was stationed in Bamberg, Germany and was deployed to Iraq.
Read MoreHarbor Care has been ahead-of-the-curve in terms of pet-friendly housing. Well-behaved and vaccinated pets have been welcome in much of our Housing Services program for years. For the comfort, mental wellness, and social advantages pets bring, Harbor Care hopes that soon everyone moving into shelter, transitional, or permanent housing will be able to bring their four-legged friends.
Read MoreWhen Chris returned from Iraq in 2010, his future felt limitless. But the residue of war caught up with Chris and threatened his family's dignity and home.
Read MoreHUD Secretary Ben Carson visited Harbor Homes’ Veterans FIRST facility in Manchester New Hampshire to meet with resident veterans about homelessness.
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