WELLSville Veterans Project

Wellsville, NY--Steve came from New Jersey, Toby’s from Indiana and Nick joined them from Detroit. Mike Blake was there for a while but he’s with his family right now. They share a small, green house in Wellsville with photos of friends killed in Iraq and nightmare-memories of a place where the flags on their arms were taken as targets. They live with injuries and problems but also with a sense of compassion so large that it could fill any house, pour into any conversation.

Like you, they’ve seen the stickers – “support our troops” – but they are starting where the yellow ribbons end because they’ve learned that the promises of support are surrounded by gaps and hurdles. They're involved in a project that will push those words into action and it’s right here in Wellsville.

So how would a guy from Muncie, Indiana or a suburb of Detroit end up in Wellsville? It’s because Kristin Van Huysen had this idea. Her homes in Wellsville were empty and needed work but they could house Iraq era veterans and lead the way for similar projects throughout the country, places where Iraq-vets could heal.

After hearing him speak, she shared her ideas with Garret Reppenhagen of Veterans for America. Garret liked the idea enough to pass it on because he knew that a lot of vets find it hard to go home from war. They go through so many things that they can’t tell their families about.

Garret realized that some of the vets he talked to were interested. He called Van Huysen and asked, “When can they come?”

Van Huysen’s plan was to get status as a 501(c)(3), to gather funds and fix up the houses and make room for 20+ vets. She had the houses inspected to get a handle on repairs but as she started talking to some vets, she decided that this couldn’t wait for niceties or paperwork. She was willing to operate on a handshake. She poured thousands of words into my phone to explain.

“These guys are magic. They are so important. They need a lot of healing but it has to come from others, like them, who have gone through hell and come out with determination. I listened to Mike’s address to the Congressional Committee. I love them all,” she said.

So nothing was ready when the first group arrived in Wellsville before Christmas, after they’d helped rebuild houses for other vets in New Orleans. They came with Cain, puppy of a flood-rescued dog. They repaired one house enough to move in and begin the WELLSville Veterans Project.

But, since they jumped in so quickly, the project needs a little neighborly help. They’d appreciate a gas stove for the kitchen. They’d like to have a mattress, a dresser, a desk or table and a chair in each bedroom. Carpets would be good because the floors are rough and they need tools too – anything a person needs to fix a house. They aren’t asking for anything new. Usable is fine with them.

While each of these guys personally needs things, they aren’t asking for anything for themselves. Talk with them a while and you’ll understand that. They want things for the house, for the project. Yes, a stove would be a great benefit to them. Eating is expensive when you can only cook in a toaster oven but their goals are long term.

They want to stay in that house a year or two and when they leave, they want to be stronger, they want to have helped someone else and they want to have improved the house. The fact that they’d be able to cook on a stove and sleep on a mattress, well, that’s just what will happen along the way.

They are trying to help others get promised benefits and sort out what they’ve been through, what they’ve done and what comes next. Steve said, “Our mission is to help Iraq era veterans get on their feet and deal with issues. We don’t want to take any more casualties at home. We’re here to help.”

Steve tried to tell me what it’s like in Iraq without pretending that I could understand. He asked me to picture myself in a dark room with 20 other people knowing that one wants to kill me so I tried to imagine myself searching the darkness to catch a threatening movement. I imagined how slowly the time would go and how fear would build in me day after day and felt depression and desperation and anger join in. I tried to see this and think that I was 19 and that I’d have to be in that situation day after horrible day. It made me see that after months of such stress, anyone would be drastically changed.

Toby works out images by writing graphic, personal poetry but words can heal all of what war does. Toby and Steve described walking down a street and suddenly someone in their group would drop and nobody would have any idea where the shot came from. Sometimes they wouldn’t even hear the shot.

Toby and Nick went to war straight from high school while others their age were being led down a well-marked path toward college. They have a maturity beyond their years but missed some other things and are trying to figure out where to re-start, how to go and what to do.

They are tying to use the VA system but it takes months to get the right assortment of forms and papers. Soldiers are just told to wait. Soldiers whose valor in Iraq was so generous and honest that it would rip your heart open are pretty much told, “Thanks a lot. Your country appreciates it. Now, you’re fine. Go deal with it.”

Kristen Van Huysen is spending pretty much all she earns to help these guys. She’s sure she will find funding as soon as all the paper work lines up but in the meantime maybe you have a used gas stove or a decent mattress or dresser, a hammer or, right now, even a plate of cookies that would help.

You could call Randy Kuhl (607- 776-9142 or 800- 562-7431) and ask him to support HR 508, a bill which, among other provisions, requires that the US fully fund the health care needs for vets.

If you have things to donate to the project, Email wellsvillevetsproject@yahoo.com or call 206-851-6448.