How aging veterans are treated like family at medical foster homes

Shantel Cross and her two kids set three places for dinner for the veterans who live at their home in Baltimore — Charles McCoubrey, Peter Samaras and Ekkehard Thies. The three men couldn't be happier to have a seat at the table.

"It's nice here. And being in a nursing home, they just throw you away, they ignore you. But here we're like part of the family," Samaras said.

Medical foster homes are an innovative approach from the Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans who may need extra care later in life. The program began in 2002 in Arkansas, Florida and Puerto Rico. Today, over 700 veterans receive home care from approximately 500 caregivers.

All three veterans who live with the Cross family served in the military in the late 1960s and early 1970s. McCoubrey was in the Navy, while Samaras and Theis served in the Army — a divide that's become the subject of some good-natured ribbing in their home.

Cross began her career in a nursing home, but she realized she could provide a more comfortable environment in her own home. Medical professionals and social workers visit the vets, and Cross also takes them to services outside the home.

"The daycare center they go to is wonderful. We take the guys out to the mall, let them do some walking, somebody might want coffee, we get 'em ice cream," Cross said.

Dayna Cooper, director of home and community care at the Department of Veterans Affairs, oversees the medical foster home program .

"Our caregivers treat the veterans as their own family," Cooper said. "The caregivers have to live in the home with the veteran, and so we really see that family bond and relationship."

That close bond is evident in the Cross home, where the veterans play games, take walks with the kids and participate in other activities as a family.

"I believe that every veteran has a right to remain and age in place and be with people who surround them with love," Cooper said.

Almost half of the U.S. veteran population is 65 or older, according to the U.S. Census. Nursing homes can cost over $100,000 per year out of pocket, but the medical foster program costs vets less than half that. Caregivers receive on average $2,800 per month from each veteran living in their home.

"It gives me a peace of mind to know that I'm able to help others and give back. I love helping others and I love giving back," Cross said.

Cross says she envisions being a foster caregiver "forever."

"I don't ever want to stop," she added.

Any veteran enrolled in the Veterans Affairs system is eligible for the program, which serves as a powerful reminder about the healing power of home.