HVAF Employee spotlight

This month we spotlight Tom Tuttle. He’s a Case Manager for HVAF’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. He goes above and beyond to support veterans who are near homeless. On his own initiative, he has been canvassing the streets and shelters for homeless veterans who fit into a specific category in SSVF. And not only has he been able to spend the grant funding efficiently he has moved veterans out of homelessness.

Tom Tuttle at HVAF 

Tom has a BSW from the University of St. Francis in Indianapolis and an MA in Human Rights from Kingston University London. His grandfather is a Korean War veteran and has 7 cousins (all seven served active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan).

Here’s more about Tom.

What attracted you to the position at HVAF?

Working with veterans and the issues they face is what attracted me to this position. I have a lot of veterans in my family and have seen some of the many problems veterans face.

What do you enjoy most?

The part of working at HVAF I enjoy most is working with the clients and trying to help resolve the many differing situations the clients come from. Before working at HVAF I worked at IU in research to improve nursing home care.

How has SSVF grown since you started?

SSVF has grown in a variety of ways since starting at HVAF. We are serving more clients than in previous grant years. We have changed the ways we approach finding clients and assistance that we provide. We have created more tools to track and record program status.

What are your hobbies?

My hobbies include playing guitar and working/ riding old beach cruiser bicycles.

Employment spotlight

Earma Andrews known to the veterans at HVAF as “Mother Earma” is teary-eyed when she talks about her 15 years working at HVAF. She will be retiring in January 2015, as a Residential Assistant (RA) at the Manchester Apartments which is one of HVAF's 15 housing properties. Only 8 people worked alongside Earma when she began. Now there is 62 employees on staff.

Earma Andrews

“The organization has come a long way and we have more housing for our homeless veterans and that’s a good thing,” says Erma proudly.

She spent 20 years in the U.S. Army as a Staff Sergeant and traveled to Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. She was tasked with casualty reporting.

“It was hard work and I was glad to come home after serving my country and work for an organization that supports veterans,” says Earma.