SAN ANTONIO – A Vietnam veteran spent this Veterans Day in a comfortable home for the first time in over a decade.
When the leaders of two organizations found out she had been living in a shed, they stepped up immediately.
“She was living in a mobile home with her father. Her father passed away. She could no longer afford the mobile home, so they repossessed the mobile home. And she moved into the shed that was behind the mobile home,” said Michael Cotungo, interim executive director of Adapt-A-Vet, an organization that fixes and transforms homes for veterans across the nation.
Cotungo heard about the homeless veteran’s situation right after a couple from Missouri generously donated a recreation vehicle to Adapt-A-Vet.
He immediately called Home Depot’s “Team Depot Foundation” crew, and they all got to work.
"We refurbished the fifth wheel, and we brought it out and set it up," Cotungo said. "We're putting decks, ramps, planter, building a pergola, getting it all set up like home now."
"You find people who didn't realize there was somebody out there to help them," said Team Depot volunteer Michael Reichert.
Sgt. 1st Class Robin Hart, a Women Veterans of San Antonio member, said there are far more homeless female vets than most people realize.
"They're couch-surfing women, living in their cars. They're not living out on the streets often times, so it's hard to get an account of how many homeless women veterans there are," Hart said.
That's why all the organization leaders said it's so crucial to find the vets who have fallen through the cracks.
"Giving back to veterans, they've given so much. We'll never be able to repay the debt that we owe them, and I think any little thing we can do to help is a step in the right direction," said Team Depot's district captain Greg Mills.
"We show them what freedom feels like in their own home," Cotungo said.
Any veteran or family member who needs help with their home can call Adapt-A-Vet at 210-481-8060 or go to adaptavet.org, where community members can donate to the organization so they can continue with their projects.