Help Give Homeless Veterans a Fighting Chance
Click HERE to vote
(Memphis) One out of every four homeless people you pass on the streets, is a veteran.
A local organization is hoping to fight that number by winning a national contest.
Alpha Omega Veterans Services takes in disabled and homeless veterans and helps them rehabilitate their lives.
It’s one of four organizations people can vote for to get the money.
Whoever gets the most votes in this first round will get a check for $25,000 from the Home Depot Foundation and a chance to win the grand prize, $250,000.
Right now, Alpha Omega is in third place.
U.S. Navy vet and former Memphis police officer, Charles McClore, didn’t always call Alpha Omega Services Home.
But in 2002, “I was very ill, I had a spinal condition called, spinal scoliosis, it twisted my body. I couldn’t work anymore and eventually, I lost my home.”
Homeless and sick, he turned to Alpha Omega Veteran Services, the organization worked with him as he became strong and independent.
Each night Alpha Omega houses 122 veterans, the group can’t take in anymore.
The rooms are full, leaving thousands of men and women who served our country, to sleep on the streets in the Mid-South.
“You can see them at night, laying at bus stops. you can see them riding around in their wheelchairs with American flags, those are veterans,” said McClore.
” We go overseas to help people in the same situation, homeless, hungry people. Why are we forgetting the people who dedicated themselves to us?” said Whitney Bray with Alpha Omega.
Bray tells News Channel 3, the funds will also help build the veterans who stay with the organization a recreation room.
An empty lot of grass is where the group hopes to build the room, so many disabled and elderly vets can socialize with others.
“It’s really sad to see them under a shade tree in a parking lot, because they have no connection anywhere,” said Bray.
“A lot of the guys stay inside because it’s so hot,” pointed out McClore.
McClore and Bray challenge Memphis to make the dream, a reality.
“We need to prevail for the vets that stood up for us, they aren’t strong enough.”
You have until July 31st to vote and you can do it every day until the contest closes.
To vote, just head to your Facebook page and type in ‘Home Depot Foundation.’
Click on ‘Alpha Omega Services’ and wait for the red button to turn green.
