Hike Across America is part of Johnson’s BOOYAH
Veteran Bus Project, which guts old transit buses and transforms them
into portable showers and bathrooms for homeless veterans. Hike Across
America also is partnering with Clean the World to distribute 10,000
hygiene kits to homeless veterans.
He
started the project after hearing about a veteran who had to walk 15
miles a day to get to a shuttle bus just to get to the VA Hospital. That
story was his “A-ha” moment.
He knew he had to help.
According
to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are
39,471 homeless veterans in the U.S. on any given night.
During his stop at the Kearney Center Johnson met Catherine Williams.
The
47-year-old resident's father was a Vietnam war veteran. He’s
paralyzed, struggles with PTSD and lives in a condo in Broward County,
she said.
Despite being in a wheelchair due to
osteo-arthritis, her bubbly personality shined through. Williams
stationed herself by the button-powered handicapped door to open it for
other residents. She'd suddenly break into song, her rendition of
Whitney Houston’s “Count on Me” echoing throughout the center’s patio.
It’s one of her favorite songs. “It inspires me,” she said.
As do people like Johnson and like her father, who’ve been in the trenches and risen to give back.
For Johnson, that's a way of life.
“The important thing is to give," he said, "you'll get a lot more back if you do that."
Johnson
says along with helping shelter veterans, his focus is on helping to
prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place. The Veteran Bus
Project gives entrepreneurship programs for veterans.
The key, he said, is to “band together.”
“To
take a veteran and put them in a facility is to provide them cover… but
that doesn’t stop what’s on the inside,” Johnson said. “We’re missing
the key ingredient of that, which is giving them (veterans) that
comradery.”
Reach Nada Hassanein at nhassanein@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @nhassanein_.
This
is what the Mission is all about! Connecting with and inspiring others
to ignite and reinvigorate their own greatness! What a great write-up
by Nada Hassanein and the Tallahassee Democrat for the Hike Across
America! Thank you again to all involved for making this Hike happen
and for your ongoing support of Booyah Veteran Bus Project and Clean
the World !We appreciate you ALL! It only takes a few dedicated, focused individuals to change the world!
To get involved or donate, please visit: cleantheworld.org/hike
ttp://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/09/20/marine-corps-vet-hikes-across-country-raise-awareness-veteran-homelessness/680984001/
#whatsyour22 #getonthebuswithus #hikeacrossamerica
http://www.tallahassee.com/…/marine-corps-vet-hi…/680984001/
No comments:
Post a Comment