Veteran Hospice Homestead Inc.
With 22 years’ experience working with veterans
on health issues, veteran Leslie Lightfoot felt that
the VA could not possibly provide the care needed
by terminally ill patients, so in 1993 she opened the
nation’s first private hospice for veterans within the
Veteran Homestead organization. This is a significant
problem—nearly 25% of the homeless population are
veterans; the average pension for a retired veteran is
$13,000. But one has to start somewhere; this private
hospice is able to provide affordable housing as well as
medical, psychological, and spiritual care, in a drug and alcohol-free environment. All this is managed at
about one-third the cost of a VA facility, despite twice
the clinician-to-patient ratio. VHH would like now
to establish a new comprehensive facility: the Northeast
Veteran Training and Rehabilitation Center, for
amputees, victims of traumatic brain injuries, Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder, and burn injuries. The
need is great and growing, and philanthropy must
help. This is an opportunity for leadership support.

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