Generous donation

$90K gift will help provide housing for veterans

Pembroke Pines is one step closer to helping honorably discharged veterans find affordable housing.

The Pembroke Pines Subaru dealership recently presented a $90,796 check to Vice Mayor Iris Siple and City Commissioner and World War II veteran Carl Shechter.

That money will allow the city to revamp four of the five houses that make up the R&R (Reenergize and Reconnect) Village on the Howard C. Forman Human Services Campus. The fifth house has already been renovated, and a family of six now lives there.

“The homes provide a perfect opportunity for veterans and their families to become a family again and begin the process of mainstreaming into the community,” said Jay Shechter, the city’s director of community service and housing. “This is a quality-of-life issue for those who have sacrificed so much on our behalf.

“… We learned there are large families with veterans who have nowhere to go. This is an opportunity to keep families together.”

The five-bedroom houses were built in the 1950s and were used for South Florida State Hospital staff or as community housing.

The houses need updated kitchens, revamped bathrooms, upgraded air conditioning units and a deep cleaning.

“They need love,” Jay Shechter said. “The veteran and his or her family will be provided a sense of security in a well-maintained, safe and clean home.”

The project strikes a personal chord for Jay Shechter, whose father and two uncles fought in WWII and whose grandfather also was in the military.

He partnered with Veterans Affairs and Mission United, a branch of the United Way of Broward County that helps veterans readjust to civilian life.

The partnerships will create a social service component where case managers will assist veterans with jobs, education, financial assistance and more.

“It just seemed like a natural fit for us,” he said. “We really want to bring all the services to veterans.”

Lori Milano, housing specialist for Mission United, has 50 veteran families on a waiting list for housing. She works with local landlords to find affordable housing for qualified veterans on a limited income.

“The

whole

basis

of

the program is to provide housing for very-low-income veterans,” she said. “We front the first, last and security (deposits) for them.”

Fallan Patterson can be reached at fpatterson@ tribune.com.