“I’ve always
been the type of person who wanted acceptance to make sure people were
taken care of,” Ellen M. said. She served in the Army from 1990- 2013. Ellen
wanted to be a part of something bigger than herself—the military. She was looking for a purpose in life. Her story about choosing the Army is
interesting. Originally, Ellen wanted to join the Air Force. She went to
Danville, IL to the recruiting station and the Air Force recruiters were off to
lunch. An Army recruiter approached her and the rest is history. Ellen appreciated
the cohesiveness of the Army. She faced many challenges, especially after she
started to have kids. The military helped her learn research skills, which lead
to her research veteran support organizations. Since Ellen started having
trouble paying her rent last November, she turned to the Military Family Relief
Fund and other resources to help her out. The Military Family Relief Fund referred
her to HVAF. Although Ellen was never
homeless, she believes she would be homeless without HVAF’s efforts. Adam
Velazquez, her case manager, went above and beyond to help Ellen out. “He connected with me and got me help right away,” she said. Ellen
currently works at Aspire/InteCare and Great Clips on the weekends.
