For many Americans, a minor home repair or extra expense is manageable despite being an inconvenience. If you’ve got something like a leaky faucet, you need to replace a broken tile, or you need to patch a hole in the wall, you’ll likely pay someone to come out and fix it for you and life goes on with a little less to spend that month.
For veterans, many have different challenges they face due to aging and/or disabilities that may put those expenditures out of reach and prevent them from living day-to-day in a safe, healthy home. 75% of veterans own a home, yet roughly 1.5 million live below the poverty level, making those extra expenses seemingly impossible to implement, along with the physical limitations that keep them from attempting to fix it themselves.
Navy Federal Credit Union has partnered with Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit that creates safe housing for vulnerable populations, to improve the homes of Veterans through essential home repairs so that those expenditures, no matter how big or small, are taken care of to give veterans age safely and have healthy homes all across the country.
Navy Federal team members receive paid volunteer leave to serve in communities at three Veterans at Home repairs in Atlanta, Ga., Arlington, Va., and Dallas, Texas. Each project provides home modification and repairs at no cost to the homeowner, improving the safety, accessibility and independence for veterans aging in place. NFCU and Rebuilding Together are aligned in their mission to serve veterans and the community.
“It's a deep honor and privilege to support home modifications, independence and capability of providing a service that aligns with our core values,” Jennifer McFarren, who is the Senior Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility & Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Navy Federal Credit Union, said. “We want to look at the person and see what they want, see what they need, and what we can provide. We’re also looking at low-income veterans that don’t have the capability to spend on modifications and maintenance, or they might not know what they need. It can be something as simple as having a set of stairs to walk up.”
For Patti Klein, Executive Director at Rebuilding Together, the partnership with Navy Federal has been a match made in Heaven in the passion that is brought with giving back to veterans with enthusiasm and servants’ hearts.
“Every time I meet someone from NFCU, they bleed blue and love to serve veterans,” Klein said. “They don’t come out just to come out, they come out because they want to. They have to be able to trust the people that they are working with to come into their home and do something for nothing. When you have the NFCU name behind it, that’s what creates that trust in the process with the veterans and their families. Having people know it's okay to ask for help is the first step.”
That trust is a bond and partnership that has been working together beautifully in tandem for over twenty years when they began their first project together in 2000. With such zeal among both teams and their volunteers, the mission is seemingly only going to expand even further, growing to three projects per year and going over and above in the process simply because they want to.
“It’s who we are.” McFarren said. “Our mission is to serve our country and our veterans and to do everything we can to provide for their well-being. Our ability to go above and beyond to serve their broad needs and give back to their community is our mission.”
By joining forces, Navy Federal Credit Union and Rebuilding Together not only provide necessities, but also weave the threads of a supportive community. The impact of this partnership to create these success stories extends beyond any sort of caulking or repair; they’re ensuring that the warmth of a safe and accessible home echoes the appreciation of a grateful nation.
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