Veterans offer a helping hand

Oct. 12--When Todd Hammond of Haverhill began to reintegrate into civilian life after seven years of service in the Marine Corps, he said, he struggled to "find a sense of purpose."

"The last thing you want is a Marine without a mission," Hammond, who served in Operation Desert Storm, said.

Various kinds of volunteer work helped him reconnect with his sense of self, he said. For the last year, he has acted as a site supervisor for the Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity. Now that he understands the value of work that engages his body and mind while allowing him to give back to his community, Hammond's goal is to get other veterans involved.

"A lot of veterans joined the military to help people. Then they get out, they get into the civilian workforce, and they feel they've lost sight of that," Hammond said.

On Saturday afternoon, he helped a small crew comprised of veterans hang sheet rock in the former St. Patrick's convent on Parker Street in Lawrence. Since 2010, Habitat volunteers have been working to transform the building into housing for 10 families. Over the course of the day, about 20 veterans collaborated with volunteers from area churches and and other organizations to work on the building's interior. The event was Merrimack Valley Habitat's first ever "Veteran Buddy Build," and it was the brainchild of Habitat volunteer coordinator Jennifer Hilton, Julian Jaramillo from the Veterans Northeast Outreach Center and Gail McAuliffe, community outreach coordinator for the state Department of Veteran Services.

"It gives veterans a chance to partner with civilian people and get out and do something, and get involved in their community," Jaramillo said.

Jaramillo is a housing specialist with the outreach center, and he said he is constantly searching for volunteer opportunities for veterans that are retired, unable to work for medical reasons, or working through the transition to life outside the military.

"After we help to get some of these people back on their feet, whether it's paying their arrearage or setting them up in a house or quite literally getting them off the streets, sometimes they come back to us and say "What do I do now?" Jaramillo said.

In order to qualify to own a Habitat for Humanity home, families must meet a certain number of required hours working on Habitat projects. Next year, Habtitat volunteers will be building a duplex on Phillips Street in Lawrence, and the application process to live there will be open specifically to veterans. McAuliffe said she saw the build day on Saturday as an opportunity to let veterans know about the resources available to them.

"It's good for them to be interacting ... to keep them from isolating," she said.

Jackie Hickford, a Navy hospital corpsman, said she couldn't even hang her own curtains prior to visiting the Parker Street project on Saturday. Hickford is a case manager for Veterans Northeast Outreach Center, and she said the satisfaction she gained from learning a new skill and networking with her peers could be invaluable to some of her clients.

"When you have a hardship such as (homelessness), a lot of veterans see it like they can't go back to school because they don't have the money. They don't even have an address," she said. "But doing something like this, they can certainly come to learn a skill."

Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera, who is a veteran, shared remarks on site. Boy Scout Troop #82 made lunch for workers.

Volunteer coordinator Hilton said she hopes the Veteran Buddy Build will become an annual event. Information sessions on the application process to be selected as a homeowner for the six Habitat homes to be built in Lawrence during 2015 and 2016, including the two veteran-specific units, will take place next week.

"We want to keep building our relationship with veterans and veterans organizations in the Merrimack Valley. We want the veterans to come and do service as well as realize they could qualify to become homeowners," she said.

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