A Home is Where the Soldier’s Heart Is

BY JAKE SCHUESSLER

VVA life member Don Payton is working hard to end homelessness among veterans in Florida. His nonprofit organization, Hearts & Homes for Veterans, provides low-income veterans with housing, basic living necessities, and medical care.

Payton, who served in the Marines from 1968-72 in Vietnam, believes that homelessness is the greatest unmet need for veterans in this country. Since 2013 his organization has helped more than three hundred homeless veterans find permanent homes in Florida. “It seems like everyone forgets about them,” Payton said.

Payton’s nonprofit began with a $2,000 donation from Firebase (Florida) Chapter 594. Since then, contributions have poured in. “The Forrester Group gave us $2,500 last year,” Payton said. “This year, they’re giving us that much in products like toilet paper. Food stamps can’t be used to buy paper products.” Individuals often donate furniture and home goods, while local and nationwide businesses have volunteered their services and offered home repair and restoration products.

Wells Fargo even donated a house with three bedrooms that Payton’s organization is currently getting a grant to restore. A local hospitality furnishing company, Frank & Son, Inc., frequently donates new beds and furniture.

Hearts & Homes for Veterans recently purchased a 12,000 sq. ft. warehouse near downtown Ft. Myers that required significant restoration. Trane Co. donated new rooftop air conditioners for the facility, along with their installation, while Graybar provided electrical supplies totaling $8,500. Home Depot gave the charity thousands of dollars in store credit, and private contractors installed the building’s security system for free.

Payton plans to use half of the warehouse’s space for storing donated goods, while the remaining 6,000 sq. ft. will be converted into dental and medical offices. He wants to provide low-income veterans with medical and dental care administered by licensed professionals who offer their services free.

“You need to be 100 percent service disabled to receive dental care from the VA, and it has to be service-related,” Payton said. “Our plan is to have dental chairs with hygienists who can get the vets prepped for more serious dental surgery to help them defray some of the costs.” If needed, Payton will transport veterans to other facilities for medical treatment once their prep work is done.

“We already loaded up a passenger van that was donated to us by the sheriff’s department, along with my truck, and drove veterans 150 miles to Hallandale to see my brother, Dr. Kevin Payton, who’s an oral hygienist, for dental work,” Payton said. So far, his nonprofit has provided dental work for thirty-eight veterans; five received full-mouth dental extractions.

Homeless veterans are usually referred to Hearts & Homes for Veterans by VA counselors at Cape Coral. “They’ve been a huge help. They’re really on top of things down here,” Payton said. His organization recently found housing for a 68-year-old woman referred to them by the VA. She served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and was living in her van. “There was another woman,” Payton said, “who was a second lieutenant in the Air Force with two teenage daughters who was also living in a van that we were able to find a home for after she was referred to us.”

Payton is modest about his earlier, more difficult efforts to find homeless veterans and get them shelter. When the nonprofit began, Payton scoured parks and campsites for veterans living out of their cars and tents. “I just couldn’t sleep knowing these veterans were out there and could use our help,” Payton said. His new goal is to reach veterans with financial difficulties as soon as they finish active duty to try to help them before they end up on the streets.

“Many of these younger veterans, if they can’t find a job right away, the cost of housing can eat up their savings very quickly,” Payton said. “Rental rates are really high in Florida.”

Homelessness costs taxpayers an estimated $15,000 per homeless individual, according to a recent University of Texas study. Veterans account for some 10 percent of the homeless population. “It’s much cheaper to get these veterans a permanent place to live, and they’re much more likely to find employment when they have a home,” Payton said.