Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Bowser.
Veterans Empowerment Organization (VEO) was founded by Frantz Fortune in July 2008. Frantz, a native-born Haitian, came to the United States in 1995.
After earning a bachelors degree in social work, he attained the American Dream by putting his heart into helping solve the homeless problem in Miami and investing in real estate. After the market turn down of 2006 Fortune brought his young family to Atlanta and began working with the United Way and the Mayor of Atlanta on the Taskforce to end Homelessness.
Frantz was amazed at how many homeless Veterans he encountered on the streets in Atlanta. After learning that the VA did not have a dedicated homeless program, he befriended two Veterans that he helped to get a job at Home Depot. With jobs but nowhere to sleep at night, Frantz decided to bring them home and stay in his basement.
Within a week he was able to make a payment on a foreclosed house that had four bedrooms, and so he opened his program up to 8 men. Fast forward ten years and VEO has helped over 4500 Veterans on their road to self-sufficiency. The VEO campus, located in the Grove Park neighborhood of Atlanta, has four apartment buildings that house 106 men.
Across the street, the program leases an additional five units to house four families and five single Veteran females. The program is primarily funded through private funds with some government programs supporting the workforce development department. VEO provides unconditional support to all underserved Veterans.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
VEO has faced many challenges over the years. Being a non-profit is never easy, and the biggest concern has always been a predictable amount of income that can be relied upon to keep the program sustainable and able to grow according to our Veteran’s needs.
The program is funded primarily with private dollars. This strategy gives us the ability to serve all Veterans without limitations. Typical government-funded programs have strict guidelines as to whom and how you service your clients. We believe that Veteran homelessness is not just the VA or local governments problem but can be solved with the communities help.
After all, these Veterans did not sign up to protect just the government but to protect the entire community and society as a whole. We have been fortunate enough to be funded by United Way since the inception of the program. We do not see that partnership ending any time in the near future, but we must continue to find additional sources of funding to make sure the program can lose one major donor and still operate functionally.
Additionally, VEO is currently trying to find funding to increase the support of homeless Veteran families. The need is great right now, and it is the hope of VEO to secure an additional $275,000 to provide housing and assistance to 10 additional families.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Veterans Empowerment Organization – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as an organization and what sets you apart from others.
VEO is a non-profit, primarily privately funded program that serves the homeless Veteran population in the greater Metro Atlanta area. We were founded in 2008 and had helped over 4500 Veteran clients get back to self-sufficiency. VEO has a unique approach that allows for unconditional support to all underserved Veterans.
Our main campus, located in the Grove Park neighborhood, has room for 106 male Veterans, five single female Veterans, and 4 Veteran families. The program is a true housing first model and provides a 360-degree holistic approach to ensure that every client receives care that is tailored to their needs.
The program includes housing, three meals a day, mental health counseling and a very strong workforce development program. The program is staffed by 21 full-time employees and 12 workers on stipends. In 2017 the VEO staff helped 572 Veterans with a myriad of services.
We are proud to have been recognized by the White House 2 times for the exceptional level of care and effectiveness of our program.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
VEO is continuously growing. This year we have been able to raise close to $1,200,000.00 to build a new multi-purpose building that will house our new dining facility, commercial kitchen, and ten additional rooms for supportive permanent housing.
The groundbreaking for the new building will be in late fall and should be completed by late spring. Gary and Kathleen Rollins provided a $500,000 donation to get the fundraising cycle started. The VEO will need to continue to grow to serve the entire population of Georgia. It is estimated that approximately 3000 Veterans currently are without permanent housing.
In the future, VEO would like to duplicate the program and provide services at different campuses throughout Georgia and eventually to other major markets in the US. Growth is a challenging process for non-profits that take a lot of planning but more importantly financial support from local community members.
Pricing:
- The cost to house and provide programming for Veterans is $1250.00 per month
- The cost to house and provide programming for Veteran families is $2000.00 per month
Contact Info:
- Address: 373 W Lake Ave NW Atlanta GA 30318
- Website: www.veohero.org
- Phone: 404-889-8710
- Email: tyler.bowser@veohero.org
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
