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Operation Holidays for Heroes...a decade of remembering military heroes

By: J. Werner
| Published 12/14/2015

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - The Montgomery County Chapter of the Women’s Council of REALTORS, celebrated the tenth anniversary of their Holidays for Heroes program doing what they’ve done for the past decade, remembering the military heroes who have ensured our freedom.

In 2005, the WCR wanted the actively-serving troops from Montgomery County to be remembered during the holidays, so they packed homemade Christmas stockings stuffed with snacks and gifts, and letters from the local school children. The ‘care’ packages were sent to troops serving in Iraq, and then to Afghanistan, as the strife in that area escalated.

This grassroots project started with just a couple hundred stockings and grew to as many as 1500 stockings in 2011. The project soon became one of the biggest outreach efforts in the community as sponsors, businesses, and residents contributed in a variety of ways to let the troops know how much they were appreciated. Over the years, the growth in the county saw more people getting involved to support the troops during the holidays, and the number of troops deployed, began to lessen. The WCR then shifted their focus to those who had served, but who had since been forgotten...the homeless veterans.

The annual pack-out event, December 3, at The Woodlands Information Center, focused on veterans’ needs and wants. One local veteran and his family, who had fallen on hard times, were adopted and received gifts of essential items, toys for the children, and a check to see them through, until they can get back on their feet. Both husband and wife are battling health issues, so it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The organization also stuffed 600 stockings to deliver to homeless veterans in the Greater Houston and surrounding areas. The stockings were filled with treats and some essential items, and included homemade greeting cards from CISD elementary school students, which has also been part of the 10-year tradition. The College Park JROTC was on hand to assist with the packout and help with the heavy lifting. The cartons full of stockings were then delivered to recently-housed veterans.

Over 35 local agencies collaborated to build a nationally-recognized response system that has housed over 3,650 homeless Houston veterans in just over 3 years. It was announced June 1, 2015, that Houston effectively ended veteran homelessness. The fourth largest city in the United States had the second largest veteran population (300,000). In June 2014, Mayor Parker accepted First Lady Michelle Obama’s ‘Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness.’ Over 604 local leaders across the nation have accepted the Challenge, including 460 mayors, seven governors, and 137 other county and city officials. Houston was the first of the nation’s 40 largest cities to accomplish this Challenge. The city’s community-driven initiative to reduce and prevent homelessness was titled “The Way Home.” Many of Houston’s homeless veterans found a home in a renovated hotel, which enabled each veteran his/her own apartment. This was one of the stops along the way for the WCR’s holiday packages.

“This project works so well with what we do as realtors,” said Cynthia Head, co-chair of this year’s “Holidays for Heroes” project. “We know firsthand the value people place on having a home to call their own.”

Kevin Brady, U.S. Representative for Texas's 8th congressional district, stopped by to participate in the packout process. In fact, he had just arrived back home and made it his first stop.

“I just came from the airport,” said Congressman Brady. “I’m glad I didn’t run into any flight delays. I didn’t want to miss this.”

For the tenth year in a row, refreshments for the packing volunteers were provided by Congressman Kevin Brady, who reiterates annually that this as one of his favorite community projects. According to Brady, seeing to the needs of our veterans should be everyone’s responsibility who enjoys our country’s freedoms. He listed three responsibilities…

"First, we should never forget the sacrifices they made, and their families have made, for our freedom," said Brady. "Second, we need to fulfil our commitment to take care of them when they return home, or when their service is completed. That's health care, that's jobs, and no veteran should ever go homeless. Our third obligation is to ensure we fully fund our military men and women every day so that we protect the freedoms that these men and women have fought so hard to secure for us," added Brady.

He reiterated those three responsibilities the following day at the dedication ceremony and ribbon-cutting for the new Veterans Administration clinic in Conroe, located at 690 South Loop 336. See related link at New Veterans Clinic officially opens with Grand Opening celebration. Also see Congressman Brady’s comments in the video.

To learn more about The Way Home and Houston’s collaborative system to prevent and end homelessness, visit www.thewayhomehouston.org. Any veteran experiencing housing instability is encouraged to call the VA Homeless Veteran Hotline at 1-877-4AID-VET, or visit the McGovern VA Drop-in Center at 1418 Preston Street.

“Our program is ongoing, we’re just shifting our focus,” said Co-Chairman, Jeanne Toth. “As the community has grown, so has the outpouring for our actively-serving troops, so we’re now focusing on the needs of veterans, especially homeless veterans.”

To follow the efforts of the WCR, ‘Like’’ them on Facebook at Operation Holidays for Heroes, and also follow the WCR Montgomery County Chapter on Facebook.

#OperationHolidaysforHeroes

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