When I interviewed Air Force veteran Richard, I expected to hear a story of service. What I wasn’t prepared for was the raw honesty, transparency, and reminder that behind every warrior is a human being just trying to hold their family and themselves together.
Richard served in the U.S. Air Force Security Forces from 2003 to 2010, deploying four times: twice to Iraq, twice to Afghanistan. On his third deployment in 2007, an IED changed every part of his life. “I broke my neck, I crushed my skull, and ended up with a broken hand,” Richard shared. “I’m grateful I can walk, that I’m as functional as I am. It could have been a lot worse.”
Despite the severity of his injuries, Richard pushed through surgery after surgery, determined to continue the career he loved. “I wanted to do my 20 [years],” he said. “I didn’t want to go anywhere.”
But after repeated complications with his cranial reconstruction and a final severe infection, the Air Force medically separated him. “When they told me I couldn’t deploy anymore, it was hard. That job was my whole world.”
A Transition Filled with Instability, Homelessness, and Uncertainty
Like so many service members, Richard didn’t just lose a job; he lost identity, stability, and a direction for the future. “When I got out, my VA rating dropped to zero percent,” he recalled. “I flailed. I ended up a mechanic, making barely anything. I dealt with intermittent homelessness. I wasn’t sleeping on park benches anymore, but I didn’t know where I’d be the next night. It was rough.”
Fo, instability wasn’t just stressful; it was triggering. He’d experienced homelessness as a child from ages 13 to 18, and the fear of losing housing as an adult brought him to the edge.
“Instability in housing or food puts me in a mentally very bad place very quickly,” he said. “I had several suicide attempts in 2020 and 2021. If instability happened again, I was terrified I wouldn’t survive it.”
“I Was Hopeless”: When a Layoff Threatened Everything
By 2022, Richard found his footing as a Product and Program Director, but unfortunately, he learned that a layoff was coming. I wasn’t supposed to know, but someone told me. And I panicked,” he said. “My VA claim still wasn’t approved. My savings was almost gone. My wife was searching for work while dealing with her own medical issues. I didn’t know how we were going to eat.”
Richard made a phone call many veterans avoid out of fear, shame, or pride.
He reached out for help.
“It meant a lot that even before the bad thing happened, HOPE took my call,” he said. “They didn’t brush me off. They talked me off the ledge and said, ‘If something happens, we may be able to help.’ Just hearing that… it kept me going.”
When the layoff finally came, the situation quickly became desperate. “My unemployment was denied because of how the layoff was worded. Suddenly I had zero income. We were facing homelessness. We didn’t know how we were going to feed the kids.”
That’s when the support kicked in.
Hope For The Warriors stepped in with rental assistance, working directly with his landlord so Richard’s family could stay in their home while he appealed his unemployment and continued fighting for his VA benefits. “When I got the call that HOPE was going to help with rent, it was a humongous relief,” Richard said. “I cried. That stability literally saved me from going to a very dark place.”
“It Was Meaningful. It Made Me Feel Less Alone.”
Richard eventually found employment and stability again, which is something he doesn’t take for granted.
“You don’t share this stuff with the outside world,” he said. “It’s embarrassing. It lives within your four walls. Having HOPE check in on me, help me, believe me…it kept me motivated. It made me feel like I wasn’t swimming alone.”
And last year, Richard and his wife achieved something he once thought impossible: they bought a home. “There was a moment where I said, ‘Okay… we’re okay now.’ Being able to own a home felt like proof that we made it. That all the work wasn’t for nothing.”
He emailed Shelley Rodriguez, his HOPE caseworker, simply to say thank you. “When we bought our house, I started thinking we could have been out on the street,” he said. “My daughter wouldn’t be thriving in her school sports. My son might not be in college. My other kid wouldn’t have had a stable high school experience. We wouldn’t be where we are today. Staying housed changed everything.”
I asked Richard what he’d say to another veteran or military spouse who is struggling, scared, or ashamed to ask for help.
His answer was immediate.
“As painful as it is to humble yourself and say, ‘I need help,’ it is much more painful to live with the consequences of not reaching out. Sometimes you just need a little bit of help to keep you from losing everything,” he shared. “Instability is dangerous. Homelessness is expensive financially, emotionally, and mentally. Take the uncomfortable step now to prevent something so much worse later. Asking for help is not weakness. It’s survival.”
Richard’s VA rating is now 100%. He is working. His family is stable. They have a home. His children are thriving.
But he knows how close he came to losing everything.
And that’s why he wanted to share his story.
Your Support Creates Stability, and Stability Changes Lives
Richard’s journey reminds us of two things:
- Veterans and military families are often one crisis away from instability.
- When donors and supporters step in, that single act of HOPE can change the trajectory of an entire family.
Your support makes stories like Richard’s possible.
You help veterans avoid homelessness, access resources, rebuild careers, and reclaim their futures.
And if you’re a veteran, service member, or military spouse reading this, remember:
- It’s okay to ask for help.
- You deserve stability.
- You deserve support.
- You can find HOPE.
If you need help, connect to services today.
If you can give, donate today to keep families like Richard’s safe, stable, and supported.
Together, we can keep HOPE alive, one family and one warrior at a time.
