January 6, 2019. Tonya Lee Stott Brown, Writer Director of the drama, comedy and musical play “Coming Home”. The show was presented to the public for free on 2018 Veterans Day at the First Baptist Church of Maryville, Tennessee. The theme of the show was faith-based recovery of a WWII combat veteran who returned home with chronic depression, PTSD and readjustment conditions. Tonya worked with VTVT to adapt the play to include suicidal ideation and allowed VTVT’s President to address the epidemic of suicide minutes before the play began. Over $3,000.00 donations were accepted after the play and presented to VTVT to help with their 15 veteran programs. VTVT was blessed to have found 8 individuals who were currently suicidal and looking for help! Thanks Tonya for saving lives.
Posted on
No braver souls are found, than among those who sacrifice for the love of their country and fellow man. We proudly hold you in our hearts with the deepest gratitude.
Sincerest wishes for a blessed, peaceful and safe holiday. Vet to Vet Tennessee Family
ALCOA, Tenn. (WVLT)–An East Tennessee war veteran got his freedom back. The amputee was a prisoner in his own home; unable to get down the stairs in his wheelchair — until now.
“Gets me out of my house,” Steve Lundy, a war veteran from 1976, said.
The Alcoa veteran relies on a wheelchair to get around, but had no way of getting down his front steps
Thanks to veterans helping each other, that’s no longer the case. Read More
Sorry, cannot remove the short commercial but Steve’s story is worth the wait.
“Oh my god, why me?” Steve asked. The 65-year-old was born with poor circulation in his legs. He served overseas in the 1970’s, but with trouble walking, he was honorably discharged. In November this year, with Steve’s life on the line, doctors amputated.
Left to right Steve Lundy, Mike Kennedy, Ron Hansen and James Lawson (DAV 76)
“If it’s my time to go, then it will happen on the table. Thank God I came out of it,” he said. And the fight isn’t over. “Now my right toe is getting black.”
With the possibility of becoming a double amputee, Steve said he needs all the help he can get. Which is why just a ramp means getting his life back.
Ed Junod is President of Vet to Vet Tennessee said they have helped ten (10)veterans in the last 12 months who were in need in Blount and Monroe Counties. Even though the wheel chair ramp construction on Steve’s home is done, the project is far from over.
The “Repairs for Heroes” program was created by Vet to Vet Tennessee in September 2017 as a joint venture pilot program with Blount County Habitat For Humanity. Since then VTVT has partnered with Amvets Post 22 and Monroe County Disabled American Veterans Post #93.
VTVT funded the project and was supported by the Alcoa Disabled American Veterans Post #76 Mike Kennedy, Ron Hansen, and James Lawson and Shore Building Inc Carpenter John Garland and his son John J. Garland and Steve’s friend Bryan Adkins. We are also grateful to Nathan Weinbaum, Blount County Veteran Service Officer for referring Steve to VTVT.
“We not only repair the home, but help repair mind, body, spirit,” Junod said.
You can connect with Vet to Vet Tennessee (VTVT) by contacting (865) 336-2624 or by logging on towww.tnvhc.org.
Junod also reminds veterans of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) HISA program, or the Home Improvement Structural Alteration. If veterans need a wheelchair, the VA may help pay for home improvements before the surgery takes place. Click here to view the VA’s HISA requirements.
On October 3, 1863, in the midst of the bloodiest war America has ever fought, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation “to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”
All of us at Vet to Vet Tennessee wish the men and women of our Armed Forces a Happy Thanksgiving. We thank you for serving our country and we pray for your safety. We also wish a Happy Thanksgiving to our military families – the most special group of all.
Only those who have experienced an airport or pier-side goodbye hug for a loved one leaving in uniform truly know what they endure. Alone on this Thanksgiving, they bravely shoulder their families’ burdens because words like “duty” and “service” mean something to them.
Thank you and God Bless all of you this Thanksgiving.
