Housing site for female vets launches
Merrillville project also will include job training center
As the nation observed Pearl Harbor Day on Monday, an annual day of remembrance for service members and civilians killed during the Japanese bombing in 1941, a group of veterans joined others in Merrillville to break ground on a housing project for an often forgotten segment of the military: female veterans.
“I don’t know if it’s the first of its kind, but it’s very much needed,” said Laura McKee, Women’s Veterans coordinator for the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, of the $1.6 million transitional housing/job training center building that will be built on Grant Street. “Overall, the general population of homeless peopl
e is going down while the population of homeless women veterans is increasing. A lot of that has to do with the fact that they have children,” McKee said.
Jan Brown, the first female national commander for Amvets, agreed that the project, which also includes a job training center, is sorely needed.
“This type of housing is so hard to come by, not only because of the smaller number of women veterans but because of the attachments they come with, their children. I applaud you 100%,” she told Robert Farmer, the executive director of Webb House center for homeless veterans in Gary, which is building the 6,100-square-foot facility.
Farmer has said that the project is being paid entirely through the U.S. Department of Defense and is unique from other veterans housing projects in that it’s for women veterans and some of their children only; no men will be allowed. The building will contain 10 bedrooms, a fitness center, training center and a licensed daycare for some of the women’s elementary aged children. There will be up to 10 women veterans at a time living in the building for a six- to nine-month period during which they will receive classroom training from local union representa
“I’m saying this because so many female veterans are forgotten. I’m so glad to be a voice for them.” – Jessica Lynch, US army veteran
tives and home buying assistance.
“This will be a state of the art building,” Farmer said.
Also lauding the project was Army veteran Jessica Lynch, who was just 19 and deployed in Iraq in March 2003 when she was severely injured and captured during an ambush attack in which the other soldiers in her vehicle were killed.
“I’m proud and honored to be part of this,” she said.
Lynch recalled her capture and the harrowing days that followed.
“I instantly knew we were in trouble. I noticed the Iraqis were surrounding us. There was nowhere to hide or escape,” Lynch said.
She said her vehicle was hit by a rocked propelled grenade, causing one person, her best friend, to die of head trauma; three other soldiers were shot and killed. She was knocked unconscious and taken to a local hospital where her leg was almost amputated, then to an abandoned building for a couple of days, then back to the hospital, where she was rescued by Navy SEALS. She said she’s had seven surgeries on her right foot alone and 20 surgeries altogether as a result of her injuries sustained in the battle.
“I’m saying this because so many female veterans are forgotten. I’m so glad to be a voice for them,” Lynch said.
Devetta Britton, commander of Amvets Post 6 in Gary, said it’s exciting to see this project begin. “It’s about time they recognized us. It’s the best thing for the children, too,” Britton said.
Julie Storbeck, president of the Northwest Indiana Chapter of National Organization for Women, presented a gift of 100 masks for the women and their children made by the Mask the Region sewing group of NOW. Storbeck said the organization will work with Farmer and Webb House to promote the facility. Storbeck’s daughter, Hannah Trueblood, works in real estate and will help educate the women at the facility on home ownership.
“There should not be a single homeless veteran in this country, especially a women veteran,” Storbeck said.
“No matter what you’re going through, persevere. Never give up,” Lynch said.