November 20, 2025 • 34 mins
Some gaps are obvious once you’ve lived through them. Brady Wright, a combat Veteran turned ministry leader, describes the moment he realized why so many vets were cycling from hospital detox back to the street; there was no immediate bridge into stable, supportive housing. Together with event coordinator and fellow veteran Marla Kaiser, we walk through a three-step model that changes outcomes—clinical treatment with Fire Mission Ministries, six months of service-intensive transitional housing at the Veterans Village in Shelby County, and a guided transition into permanent homes.
You’ll hear how a small band of Vietnam veterans sparked the village with their own money and community grit, how Thursday dinners keep belonging alive, and why tiny homes become launchpads for benefits, healthcare, transportation, and credit repair. We unpack the meaning behind “Fire Mission,” a phrase borrowed from combat that now anchors a faith-forward, judgment-free approach: suppress the chaos—hunger, isolation, untreated PTSD, TBI, and addiction—so people can move again. The result is measurable: dozens of program graduates with many of them becoming homeowners within a year of completing the program, including one alumnus who now serves on the board.
If you care about veteran homelessness, addiction recovery, PTSD support, or community-led solutions, this story offers a blueprint. Want to help or refer a veteran? Visit firemissionministries.com and vroky.org, join a Thursday dinner, or follow VRO on Facebook for real-time needs and wins. If this conversation moved you, share it with a friend, leave a review, and subscribe so more people find pathways that work.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:23):
Welcome to Kentucky Hidden Wonders.
On today's episode, we haveBrady Wright and Marla Kaiser
with the Veterans Rural Outreachand Fire Mission Ministries.
Thank you all for being with us.
Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (00:37):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (00:38):
I'd be excited to be here.
So, first of all, um, Brady,let's start with you.
Um, just tell a little bit aboutyourself and then um and then
we'll go to Marla.
But Brady, um, I know it's youare a veteran, but after that,
I'm we would all love to knowyour background and maybe a
little bit of how you gotinvolved with the okay.
SPEAKER_03 (01:00):
Yeah.
Um so I was um, I'll do thequick synopsis.
I was born in uh southernIndiana.
Um I uh have a younger sister.
Um during 9-11, I was in uh uhend of ninth grade, and I
remember that happening.
(01:21):
And so I felt like I needed todo something about it, and at
the time I couldn't.
And so when I got old enough todo something about it, I dropped
out of school.
I went and got my GD andenlisted in the army.
Um it was a fairly quickprocess.
Um, I went through basictraining in uh 2007 and I was
(01:41):
deployed to Iraq as a combatinfantryman in December of 2007.
SPEAKER_02 (01:46):
How old were you when you went to combat then?
SPEAKER_03 (01:48):
Um I was 18.
Wow.
Or 19.
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (01:53):
Wow, still.
SPEAKER_03 (01:54):
So I turned I turned 19 in basic training.
I turned 20 in Iraq and 21 inIraq.
So I spent three birthdays gone.
Um, but um when I left, my wifewas six and a half months
pregnant.
Um I got to come home when whenmy daughter was born um a month
later for like two weeks, andthen I went back to Iraq for a
(02:16):
whole nother year.
Um when I came home, my daughterwas a year old.
So it was a it was a crazyexperience because um, you know,
I was a young Christian, justdeployed to, you know, the
Middle East, where Christianityis not looked upon very well.
Um, a new father, new husband.
(02:37):
And so uh when I came, um, I gotinjured in Iraq, and when I came
back, um, those injuriesfollowed me, and I I had a lot
of issues.
So I they medically dischargedme, and so I got out of the
military on a med board.
Um, but I went through, Istruggled with um addiction
(02:57):
through my injuries, but I hadthis mental side of things that
I didn't know was there.
And when the army sends yousomewhere, they do really good
at training you for war, butthey don't train you to come
home.
And so when I came home, I hadall of these hidden things, you
know, that I didn't know werethere.
(03:18):
And so while I was rehabbing andtaking my medication the way I
was supposed to, it was coveringup something deeper.
So I went through addiction forum about a year.
Um, and then I went decided togo through a Christian program
um called Wheeler MissionMinistries.
Um, it's in Indiana.
SPEAKER_02 (03:37):
I know that program.
I haven't heard Wheeler thatmentioned Hebron.
SPEAKER_03 (03:40):
Yeah, it's called Hebron.
SPEAKER_02 (03:41):
Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (03:42):
So I went through that.
Um, I went through that andgraduated.
During that time, God called meto ministry.
Um, when I graduated, we visitedColorado because my
brother-in-law and sister-in-lawwere there.
And when we went out there, Itold my wife, I said, this is
where I want to be.
Like, we need to move here.
And so we packed everything upin like two weeks and moved to
(04:04):
Colorado on Thanksgiving.
Like it was very quickly.
Um, I got enrolled in Biblecollege.
She got a job working at USAA.
Um, we raised our kids inColorado.
Um, I graduated Nazarene Biblecollege in 2017 with a degree in
ministry, um, counseling andsocial work.
And I became an associate pastorat a Nazarene church.
(04:27):
Um, I did that for a while, andthen I became the director of
children's ministry.
I did that for about six months,and then I worked at the Springs
Rescue Mission in ColoradoSprings, which is an addiction
recovery program for men.
Um, I worked down there as aprogram manager.
And then COVID happened, and wedecided we wanted to change, we
(04:49):
want to be closer to home.
And so we moved back, uh, wemoved to Kentucky.
My wife got a job and she justgraduated with her master's.
And when we got here, we endedup in Shubbyville.
Um, and I went to talk to mypastor and I told him, I said,
you know, I feel like God'scalling me to do something.
I don't know what it is.
And he's like, you should go seethe, you know, go down to
(05:10):
Veterans Royal Outreach and talkto them.
And, you know, I was tellingthem I wanted to do something.
And so I started volunteering atthe VFW.
I volunteered into VeteransRoyal Outreach, and um, I got
involved with helping veteransum in Colorado.
I was doing it with the disabledAmerican veterans with
disability claims, and so Istarted that when I moved here,
and it was kind of what I wasfocused on.
(05:31):
And I started seeing thehomeless side of veterans, and I
quickly realized that there wasthis huge gap um that wasn't
being filled, and that gap washousing, but immediate housing
for addiction recovery.
So the the Veterans WorldOutreach, it covers um
(05:51):
transitional housing,service-intensive transitional
housing for six months.
But a lot of times the veteranscome out of homelessness and
they're struggling withaddiction or uh mental health
issues, and they need thoseclinical services first because
they're not successful if theygo skip step one and go to step
two.
And that's how fire mission wascreated.
(06:11):
Um, you know, I kept going homeand telling my wife, I'm like,
we're missing a piece.
Like the veterans are going intothe hospital at the VA, they're
getting detox, and then they'regiving them a bus ticket and
sticking them out on the streetin Louisville, and they're going
right back to where theystarted, and they're not ready
to go to the VRO, and we'returning down all these veterans
because they're not eligible.
(06:32):
And I'm like, we should be thatfirst step.
Like, we need to cover that.
And so um, you know, I felt likeGod was around the whole thing
and he was just orchestratingall of this stuff in my life,
and so we founded fire missionministries in the middle of an
election, um, presidentialelection.
When we founded it, everyonetold us, um, you know, it's
(06:53):
gonna take a year or two, maybethree, before you get your
nonprofit status, and it's gonnabe this difficult road.
And I was like, Well, we're justGod, you know, we're going on
faith on this, and so we did it,and we got our exempt status in
47 days.
SPEAKER_02 (07:08):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (07:08):
It was really quick.
Um, and so I felt like God wasbehind that.
And then our mission statementhas the Holy Spirit in it, and
you know, we're veryunapologetic about, you know, we
believe in Jesus and we believeJesus is the way, the truth, and
life.
And so um, people would tell me,don't put that in your mission
statement.
(07:29):
Don't do that.
And so you won't get donations,you won't make it like you need
to change it.
And I'm like, no, this is God'sor God orchestrated this, this
is his mission.
I'm just fulfilling it.
And um, so here we are now, andit's been a year and a half, and
we have And you're the director?
So I'm the president of I'm thepresident of Fire Mission
(07:50):
Ministries.
Um, as of now, um, we're workingon some grants.
Um, once those grants comethrough, then I will step down
from the board and become theexecutive director of the Fire
Mission Ministries program.
Um right now I'm the presidentof Fire Mission and I'm the
executive director of VeteransRoyal Outreach.
SPEAKER_01 (08:08):
Okay.
So uh Bertie.
I know that was long time.
No, you're fine.
Uh that was wonderful executivedirector and of VRO and
president of Fire MissionMinistries.
So, Marla, what is your what'syour title?
What's your responsibility?
What's your role there?
SPEAKER_00 (08:25):
I am the event coordinator for Fire Mission
Ministries.
Okay.
Um I And Marla, can you talk alittle?
SPEAKER_02 (08:31):
What is that?
What do what does Fire MissionMinistries do?
Just in a nutshell.
SPEAKER_00 (08:37):
We help veterans at this is the base.
We help veterans when they're attheir lowest.
And it's, you know, as my storyis not near as cool as Brady's
and as, you know, intensive, butI am a veteran myself.
And you know, I grew up here inShelby County.
I enlisted in the Army because Ihad a guy tell me I couldn't do
it.
So I did it anyway.
(08:59):
Um and I went to ChristianAcademy of Louisville until I
was a sophomore, and then Itransferred back to Shelby
County.
Um, and I had a falling out withfaith, um, a big one.
And it's been many years since Ifelt any kind of closeness to a
religion.
Um, I've always struggled withit because I had it basically
(09:22):
shoved down my throat, wasn'tallowed to formulate my own
opinion.
So I've finally kind of gottento the point that I've able to
formulate my own opinion of myown opinions.
And I've just felt this callingto really be a part of fire
ministries and the veteranveterans' rule outreach.
Um, it's been really importantto me to give back to veterans
in a way that helps them whenthey're at their lowest.
(09:47):
So as the event coordinator, Ihelp run the events where we're
going to where we're looking fordonations, where we're getting
community um community outreach,um, trying to get our our name
out there so people understand,you know, what we do and how we
do it and how we really trulyhelp veterans.
Um it's I've just felt thiscalling.
(10:11):
And so recently uh Brady and Ihave spoken, and I will be
joining the Veterans RuleOutreach um at the beginning of
the new year to help withrunning the programs for the
transitional housing that wehave.
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
Oh, con congratulations.
That sounds good.
And speaking of the transitionalhousing, one of you can, I mean,
it's a hidden gym or a hiddenwonder um in downtown
Shelbyville.
So um one of you talk about thetransitional housing and and how
it came to be.
Where did the funding come from?
SPEAKER_00 (10:43):
And it's amazing.
So I don't know how it started.
That's a good question forBrady.
Um, I know that it is a hiddenwonder.
I had heard about it many, manyyears ago.
Um, but it wasn't until Istumbled upon fire mission
ministries at uh ShelbyChristian Church, I legitimately
stumbled upon them.
(11:04):
Um, because I don't normally goto church.
Um, my church is when I'm out inthe middle of nature.
That's when I feel the closestto God and to Jesus and all of
those things.
Um, that's where I feel theclosest to him.
But the six tiny homes, um,they're close here, they're on
Bradshaw Street here in ShelbyCounty.
(11:24):
It's not far from where we'rephysically sitting right now.
Um they house veterans for sixmonths, um, get them through the
we send them through the programwhere we help file help them
file for housing vouchers, wehelp their disability claims,
um, we get them to and fromdoctor's appointments, um,
things like that.
We basically give them that legup.
(11:45):
So that's, you know, what Bradytalked about, that step two, we
help get them to step three,which is permanent housing, um,
to help them really setthemselves up for success so
that they don't fall back intohomelessness at any point.
Um, it's really important for usto give them the power to do
this for themselves.
So we just we're there with ahelping hand, but they're the
(12:07):
ones that are responsible formaking these appointments and
getting to these places.
We just we're that helping handthat we help walk with them,
just exactly like how Jesuswalks with us.
That's we walk with them.
SPEAKER_02 (12:19):
Oh, that's that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (12:21):
So, how did the where did the idea for the the
transitional housing, where didthat come from?
How did it start?
SPEAKER_03 (12:27):
Sure.
So um in 2015, there were agroup of Vietnam veterans, Dr.
Carlin Pippen, Stanley Pfister,Bobby Pridmore, Robert Baker,
Gerald, Jerry Caram, GeraldSeabrie.
They were at the food pantry andthey were just volunteering.
(12:47):
And they realized that there wasthis need for veterans, and so
they kind of all um got togetherover, you know, a couple of
years and um decided that theywanted to do more than just give
veterans food boxes or put themin a hotel for a night or pay
for you know a utility bill.
And I think that's how itstarted is they they started to
(13:10):
see that veterans were in needof housing when they were coming
to get the food boxes.
And so they all got together andthey put like$500 of their own
money together.
And um they came up with thisidea to build a tiny home.
Originally they were just gonnabuild like one or two, and then
it, you know, it just quicklygrew um into six, and then the
(13:33):
spot where it was planted, um,the the property was being
leased by the industrialfoundation for like a dollar.
They were leasing it to them,and then eventually um the
building next to them, whichused to be the old bar there on
Bradshaw Street, um, thatbuilding was it was almost
needed torn down.
(13:55):
And so they they purchased thatum and they were able to rehab
that building and get it cleanedup, and that's the community
center, what we call theveterans village.
But those guys got together umand created that.
And we lost um Robert Baker.
He passed away during you knowthe the building of it.
Um but the VRO got together withAwake Ministries actually
(14:15):
because they didn't have their501 uh C three three Cive One C3
C three.
Sorry, it's for the line.
I get it wrong every time I sayit, so it was not piping in
there.
So they didn't have that, and soAwake Ministries decided that
they want you know that theywould partner with them and help
them, and so they were able tobring in Crossroads Mission, and
(14:36):
they were the project managerfor it, and they helped
fundraise um and build ittogether, and then in 2000 and
um it was it was built in 2020,that's when they took their
first veteran.
Um, and then shortly after that,Awake Ministries um and the VRO
(14:57):
separated because the VRO gottheir own nonprofit.
That's kind of when everythingtook shape, I think, for the
VRO.
But those guys, they did thisall on the backs of the
community.
The community supported them andall of this.
I mean, um, there wasn't a lotof large grants, it was
(15:18):
donations from you know, localchurches and businesses and the
people of Shelby County.
And so, you know, I telleveryone all the time like this
is Shelby County's gym.
Like, um, you know, thecommunity center is open to
anyone that wants to use it.
You don't have to be a veteran.
Uh, we do dinners every Thursdaynight.
Um, you're welcome to come down,even if you're not a veteran.
(15:38):
If you want to come supportveteran or you want to
volunteer, you can come downthere.
Um, you know, if you would liketo give to the veterans, um, you
know, they're there, you cancome down and visit them.
Um, just come down, get a holdof me, um, set up an
appointment, and we would loveto get more of a community
involved.
But that's that's really how itstarted.
Um, is just a bunch of veteranswant to help other veterans.
SPEAKER_02 (16:02):
That's amazing.
So you mentioned a food pantry.
Is that in the community center,I guess, that veterans can go
to?
SPEAKER_03 (16:08):
The the food pantry is actually the await the
serenity center here.
SPEAKER_02 (16:13):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (16:14):
So we send our veterans down when they're when
they have time to help volunteerdown there.
But the serenity center, um, youknow, we get our food boxes for
the veterans there every week.
Really beneficial to us,especially during this time with
uh the government shutdown.
And um, you know, a lot ofveterans um, you know, that come
(16:35):
out of homelessness are, youknow, they don't they don't have
any income.
And so SNAP benefits is reallycrucial to them.
And so right now, like I just inthe past two days, I have eight
veterans that's called me that'slike we're gonna run out of food
this weekend.
So that's what I'm working onright now is trying to make sure
that these veterans have foodfor the next month because
(16:57):
without us, they I don't knowwhat they would do, to be
honest.
I mean, even even their pets,you know, a lot of them have
service dogs, and so they usethat to to help get dog food and
stuff.
And so I just went this morningand picked up a 50-pound bag of
dog food and took it to aveteran because his dog hadn't
eaten in two days.
SPEAKER_02 (17:16):
Oh gosh.
And that's sad for people.
And I'm so glad you all are herein Shelby County and you're
doing such great work.
Marla, do you have uh what kindof events do you have coming up
for maybe that the communitycould get involved with that to
help or donate or anything onthe horizon?
SPEAKER_00 (17:36):
So right now, see we like I said, we have those
dinners every Thursday night.
Um we have a women's veteransevent coming up.
Um it's the second Tuesday ofevery month.
Um, it's the next one's Novemberthe 11th.
It's from 6:30 to about eight.
Um, which is a sense ofcommunity.
That's um the biggest thing wehave coming.
Those are the two biggest thingsthat we have coming up right
now.
Um we are see the next, um, atleast say up in the coming
(18:00):
month.
Um, but we are also preparingfor Operation Veterans Santa.
Uh that is a uh what we do is welook for 10 families generally
in the surrounding counties inShelby County and then the
surrounding counties.
Um, we look for 10 familieswhere we raise money um to
provide Christmas for them.
We're looking for families thathave kids that are generally 12
(18:22):
and under, um, makes it a littlebit more enjoyable for
Christmas, you know, and thingslike that.
Although we'll today we'relooking for veteran families
just in general.
Um, we have a gun rifle, gunraffle going on right now to
help raise money for it.
Um, you can find that say on ourwebsite.
SPEAKER_03 (18:40):
If you go on um Fire Mission Ministry's Facebook, um
it's posted on there.
So it's actually um we'relooking for 10 veteran families,
veteran families or firstresponder families.
Uh, it can be either um childrenunder the age of 12, and it's
for Shelby County, SpencerCounty, Bullock County,
Jefferson County, and NelsonCounty.
(19:02):
And so we'll sponsor two veteranfamilies per county, um, and
we'll provide them withChristmas.
And last year we did it, and wecovered so we partner with
Warrior Rounds.
It's a place out of anorganization out of Tennessee,
and Warrior Rounds goes andvisits um veterans, um, and the
veteran tells them their storyand they write a song about it.
SPEAKER_02 (19:23):
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_03 (19:24):
So it's a pretty different so they have a chapter
here, and so we partner withthem, and last year we did it,
we raised almost five thousanddollars for uh three families,
and one of the one of thefamilies was the veteran was
actually their theirgrandfather.
He was like eighty years old,and he had COPD and agent orange
(19:46):
issues, and his wife couldn'thardly breathe, and she was on
oxygen, and you know, the theparents weren't around, and they
had like um six grandkids thatthey were raising, they were all
teenagers, and um, so it wasjust we we were able to get them
everything that they you knowasked for.
And um the other families thatwe did were in Shelby County,
(20:10):
and and it's just cool to seeum, you know, because they like
I talk to these veterans, andlike I know right now, if you're
a if you're a dad in general,like you, you know, Christmas
time is stressful because you'relike, I want to make sure that
my children have stuff under thetree.
And I talked to a veteran justthe other day, and he was like,
(20:32):
you know, I'm gonna be able toget my children a hoodie.
You know, I got two daughtersand a son, and they're each
gonna get a hoodie forChristmas.
And he's like, that's all I cando.
And um, so I know it's a reallystressful time for those
veterans, and so we just wannatake away all that stress.
SPEAKER_00 (20:49):
So if anyone knows of any veteran families, feel
free to reach out on to us onour Facebook page.
Um, we will get them.
Say we'll add them to our to ourlist and um get them and help
them for Christmas.
You can also purchase the gunraffle tickets, uh, which does
go to helping raise money.
Um, but you also can feel freeto just donate straight to Fire
(21:09):
Mission Ministries or theirveteran control outreach.
And we will, as a sponsor, um,say especially for businesses,
local businesses around here,we're looking for sponsorships.
We'll add you to the trailerthat we take around uh for
Christmas.
We have fire trucks, policecars, vehicles, trucks, and
things like that.
We show up and it's a big partyto celebrate Christmas with
these families to give them, youknow, the ability to give their
(21:32):
families Christmas presents.
SPEAKER_03 (21:34):
Um Yeah, we have a box trailer.
Um, it's like a eight by twelve.
And so what we want to do is putall the sponsors on that
trailer, you know.
Yeah.
Anyone that supports veteransand gotcha.
SPEAKER_02 (21:48):
That's very, very neat.
And I don't think we talkedabout it, we talked about it
before the show started, but umhow the name Fire Mission
Ministries came about, peoplemight be really, really
interested in that.
SPEAKER_03 (21:59):
So um w when we decided we were going to do a
nonprofit, you know, me and mywife talked about like, well,
what do what do we want to callit?
And I wanted it to have somekind of meaning to veterans,
like civilians, most of themhave no idea what a fire mission
is, but to veterans, especiallyyou know, combat veterans, they
know what fire mission is, whata fire mission is, and so um I
(22:25):
think I was trying to create alogo and it just I was like,
Well, I want a soldier in thereand I want it like where they're
being protected in a way, andthen I s it just clicked and I
was like, fire mission.
And so in our mission statement,it kind of ties to that.
So um a fire mission is when uha combat soldier is penned down
(22:50):
by the enemy, they're being umyou know overran and they call
in support from aircraft,artillery, mortars, um, and
their quick reaction force, andthey show up and help suppress
the enemy so that they cancontinue to move forward on the
battlefield.
And so, just like in themilitary, Fire Mission wants to
(23:11):
help suppress whatever a veteranis struggling with so that they
continue to fight on and andmove forward in life.
And so, um, you know, I telleveryone that just because they
don't look at veterans at theircurrent situation, a lot of
(23:32):
people will will see someone andsay, Well, that guy's homeless,
you know, and and and they'requick to make assumptions about
them.
But I can tell you, like, I'vehad veterans that come in and
you're like, their beard's allgrown out, their clothes are
raggedy, they're covered in mud.
You bring them in, you sh youknow, give them a haircut,
(23:52):
shave, put new clothes on them,you know, feed them, put them in
a house for a week, and youcould run into that same
veteran, and that veteran couldbe running, you know, he could
be the CEO of any company intown.
Like so a lot of times is itjust you know, the basics is
(24:15):
it's hard to do anything whenyou're hungry.
You know, you're surviving,right?
You're trying to find food,water, shelter.
So if you can cover those threethings, then that takes off so I
mean it helps with even likemental health issues, it it
fixes those for the most part.
Like it alleviates a lot ofthose symptoms.
Um, physical issues, italleviates a lot of those
(24:36):
symptoms.
Um even relationships, you know,um that they struggle with with
family and things like that.
You get them fed, you know, andput in a house and cleaned up,
and and then they're able tostart working on those
relationships.
So um, you know, all of that isI consider the enemy, right?
(24:57):
So if we're able to suppress allof the things that the veteran
everything that's attacking theveteran, then we can help the
veteran overcome that.
And fire mission is we doclinical treatment services, we
want to cover that mentalhealth, addiction, PTSD, um,
military sexual trauma, um,traumatic brain injury, like
(25:18):
those are our focuses.
But we're also ministry and um,you know, we want to build a
foundation in Christ for theseveterans.
We don't ask them to sign anykind of statement uh of faith,
we don't ask them to getbaptized, um, we don't even
force them to go to church.
We just tell them, hey, uh we'regoing to um help you, and all of
(25:40):
our principles are gonna bebiblical principles, and and
we're gonna meet you right whereyou're at, just like Christ did.
And so through that we dooutreach, um, we do uh suicide
awareness, PTSD, TBI and MSTawareness.
Um we help veterans with alltheir you know immediate needs,
(26:03):
like the dog food today.
Um, you know, last week it was aveteran that needed insurance.
The week before that was aveteran that needed car battery,
you know, Christmas.
SPEAKER_02 (26:13):
We were able to help with all those things, I guess.
SPEAKER_03 (26:15):
Yeah, we just amazing.
We we have an amazing board, andthe VRO does the same thing.
Um, the VRO, um, so VeteransWorld Outreach does service
intensive transitional housing,six-month program that helps
veterans.
Um, so there's step two, I telleveryone.
And then fire mission ministriesum does um clinical uh treatment
(26:38):
services, um, case managementoutreach um and immediate
support.
And so we try and capture theveteran in the beginning.
Um, a lot of times the veterangoes into the VA hospital in the
emergency room, and they willsend them up to um a separate
floor called SARP and it'saddiction recovery unit, and
(26:59):
they can stay there for likefour to six weeks.
I mean, they can stay therelonger if they need to, but on
average it's four to six weeks,and then they try and send them
out to one of the programs.
And oftentimes these programsare transitional housing, and so
it kind of just jumps from I'm aweek, you know, I'm a month
sober to I'm six months awayfrom moving out on my own, and
(27:23):
it just doesn't ever go well.
SPEAKER_02 (27:24):
Well, I love that you've said you all help with
the final getting them their owntheir own health.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (27:31):
It's not see, it's not just a a stepping stone.
This is something that we helpthem for all the future.
See, in the veterans that havemoved out of the tiny home
village, they still come everyThursday.
Um, they're still a huge part ofthe community that we can rely
on that we can, you know, pulltowards if we have veterans that
are struggling with somethingbecause they have help in their
(27:54):
peers.
So it's something that's reallyhelpful to us to talk to
somebody that has gone throughwhat you're going through.
Um, so it's it's a reallyamazing, strong community that
we're building.
SPEAKER_01 (28:05):
Uh, we're coming up on time.
Uh so kind of closing question,whoever wants to answer it, feel
free.
Uh, is there one shining successstory?
You can leave names out uh fromsomeone who has gone through the
transitional housing program,and you know, you've really been
able to kind of watch them.
SPEAKER_03 (28:21):
You want me to do it?
SPEAKER_01 (28:22):
Yeah, I'll let you take this one.
Flourish, you know, once they'vegone through the program.
SPEAKER_03 (28:26):
Sure.
Um before I say that, I do wantto say so.
There's three steps in this.
There's the step one, which isfire mission, um, step two,
which is veterans for outreach.
So you got clinical treatment,then you got transition
transitional housing, and thenyou have um the permanent
housing.
And so fire mission and VRO havebeen doing the permanent
together.
(28:46):
Like we have an apartment herein town um that we do love
subsidy for veterans, and wehave a house that veterans rent
through fire mission.
And so we're trying to captureall three of that.
So we have the veteran for like,you know, two years.
So we ensure their success.
Um, but with that success story,I would say one of the most
successful um guys that I'veworked with, um, he's actually
(29:11):
on our board now.
Um, he came to us, he was um,you know, recovering.
Uh, he was homeless.
Um, he had a lot of trouble withhis health.
And um, he was able to comethrough the um the tiny homes
and you know, he was able tohave get his surgeries done.
We were able to help him get hisVA disability, so he was getting
(29:34):
income.
Um, we were able to help him gethis own car.
We were able to help him find ajob, and um we helped him with
his finances, he helped fix hiscredit.
Um, and he actually moved, so hewas in the tiny homes and then
he moved to our apartments forabout eight months while he was
(29:54):
uh finishing fixing his credit,and he just recently purchased
his own home.
SPEAKER_01 (29:59):
Wow.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (30:02):
So we've had forty forty-seven veterans
successfully complete thesix-month program at the BRO.
And we've had five over fiveveterans that I know of purchase
their own home within a year ofleaving our program.
And we've had seven or eightvehicles that have been donated,
and we just when people whensomeone donates a vehicle to us,
(30:25):
we just make sure it's safe, weget it fixed up, and then we
just donate it to the nextveteran in line that needs it.
SPEAKER_02 (30:30):
So you guys are doing such great work and we are
so thankful you're in ChelseaCounty.
SPEAKER_01 (30:35):
Absolutely.
Um that is everything that wehave.
Do you have anything uh thingyou want to add?
How do people learn more?
Uh what's the website address,social media, stuff like that?
SPEAKER_03 (30:44):
So they can go to um www.fire mission ministries.com.
Um and we're about to have a newwebsite up here in the next
month.
Um and it's very interactive.
It's got all it's gonna have allthe resources on there um for
everything that a veteran needs.
And or you can go towww.vroky.org.
(31:07):
Um that's where you'll find umthere's application on there.
If you know a veteran that's inneed of um housing, you can go
on there and fill out a preapplication and that gets the
process started.
Um you can also follow us onFacebook um and Instagram for
VRO and Facebook, but Facebookis really where you want to be.
(31:29):
Um that's where all of ourinformation goes out.
So Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (31:35):
Well thank you both.
Yes, thank you for being here.
Absolutely thank you for havingus.
We really appreciate Salu thingus to thank you for all you do.
Yeah, just spread our word.
Welcome to Kentucky Hidden Wonders.
On today's episode, we haveBrady Wright and Marla Kaiser
with the Veterans Rural Outreachand Fire Mission Ministries.
Thank you all for being with us.
Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (00:37):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (00:38):
I'd be excited to be here.
So, first of all, um, Brady,let's start with you.
Um, just tell a little bit aboutyourself and then um and then
we'll go to Marla.
But Brady, um, I know it's youare a veteran, but after that,
I'm we would all love to knowyour background and maybe a
little bit of how you gotinvolved with the okay.
SPEAKER_03 (01:00):
Yeah.
Um so I was um, I'll do thequick synopsis.
I was born in uh southernIndiana.
Um I uh have a younger sister.
Um during 9-11, I was in uh uhend of ninth grade, and I
remember that happening.
(01:21):
And so I felt like I needed todo something about it, and at
the time I couldn't.
And so when I got old enough todo something about it, I dropped
out of school.
I went and got my GD andenlisted in the army.
Um it was a fairly quickprocess.
Um, I went through basictraining in uh 2007 and I was
(01:41):
deployed to Iraq as a combatinfantryman in December of 2007.
SPEAKER_02 (01:46):
How old were you when you went to combat then?
SPEAKER_03 (01:48):
Um I was 18.
Wow.
Or 19.
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (01:53):
Wow, still.
SPEAKER_03 (01:54):
So I turned I turned 19 in basic training.
I turned 20 in Iraq and 21 inIraq.
So I spent three birthdays gone.
Um, but um when I left, my wifewas six and a half months
pregnant.
Um I got to come home when whenmy daughter was born um a month
later for like two weeks, andthen I went back to Iraq for a
(02:16):
whole nother year.
Um when I came home, my daughterwas a year old.
So it was a it was a crazyexperience because um, you know,
I was a young Christian, justdeployed to, you know, the
Middle East, where Christianityis not looked upon very well.
Um, a new father, new husband.
(02:37):
And so uh when I came, um, I gotinjured in Iraq, and when I came
back, um, those injuriesfollowed me, and I I had a lot
of issues.
So I they medically dischargedme, and so I got out of the
military on a med board.
Um, but I went through, Istruggled with um addiction
(02:57):
through my injuries, but I hadthis mental side of things that
I didn't know was there.
And when the army sends yousomewhere, they do really good
at training you for war, butthey don't train you to come
home.
And so when I came home, I hadall of these hidden things, you
know, that I didn't know werethere.
(03:18):
And so while I was rehabbing andtaking my medication the way I
was supposed to, it was coveringup something deeper.
So I went through addiction forum about a year.
Um, and then I went decided togo through a Christian program
um called Wheeler MissionMinistries.
Um, it's in Indiana.
SPEAKER_02 (03:37):
I know that program.
I haven't heard Wheeler thatmentioned Hebron.
SPEAKER_03 (03:40):
Yeah, it's called Hebron.
SPEAKER_02 (03:41):
Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (03:42):
So I went through that.
Um, I went through that andgraduated.
During that time, God called meto ministry.
Um, when I graduated, we visitedColorado because my
brother-in-law and sister-in-lawwere there.
And when we went out there, Itold my wife, I said, this is
where I want to be.
Like, we need to move here.
And so we packed everything upin like two weeks and moved to
(04:04):
Colorado on Thanksgiving.
Like it was very quickly.
Um, I got enrolled in Biblecollege.
She got a job working at USAA.
Um, we raised our kids inColorado.
Um, I graduated Nazarene Biblecollege in 2017 with a degree in
ministry, um, counseling andsocial work.
And I became an associate pastorat a Nazarene church.
(04:27):
Um, I did that for a while, andthen I became the director of
children's ministry.
I did that for about six months,and then I worked at the Springs
Rescue Mission in ColoradoSprings, which is an addiction
recovery program for men.
Um, I worked down there as aprogram manager.
And then COVID happened, and wedecided we wanted to change, we
(04:49):
want to be closer to home.
And so we moved back, uh, wemoved to Kentucky.
My wife got a job and she justgraduated with her master's.
And when we got here, we endedup in Shubbyville.
Um, and I went to talk to mypastor and I told him, I said,
you know, I feel like God'scalling me to do something.
I don't know what it is.
And he's like, you should go seethe, you know, go down to
(05:10):
Veterans Royal Outreach and talkto them.
And, you know, I was tellingthem I wanted to do something.
And so I started volunteering atthe VFW.
I volunteered into VeteransRoyal Outreach, and um, I got
involved with helping veteransum in Colorado.
I was doing it with the disabledAmerican veterans with
disability claims, and so Istarted that when I moved here,
and it was kind of what I wasfocused on.
(05:31):
And I started seeing thehomeless side of veterans, and I
quickly realized that there wasthis huge gap um that wasn't
being filled, and that gap washousing, but immediate housing
for addiction recovery.
So the the Veterans WorldOutreach, it covers um
(05:51):
transitional housing,service-intensive transitional
housing for six months.
But a lot of times the veteranscome out of homelessness and
they're struggling withaddiction or uh mental health
issues, and they need thoseclinical services first because
they're not successful if theygo skip step one and go to step
two.
And that's how fire mission wascreated.
(06:11):
Um, you know, I kept going homeand telling my wife, I'm like,
we're missing a piece.
Like the veterans are going intothe hospital at the VA, they're
getting detox, and then they'regiving them a bus ticket and
sticking them out on the streetin Louisville, and they're going
right back to where theystarted, and they're not ready
to go to the VRO, and we'returning down all these veterans
because they're not eligible.
(06:32):
And I'm like, we should be thatfirst step.
Like, we need to cover that.
And so um, you know, I felt likeGod was around the whole thing
and he was just orchestratingall of this stuff in my life,
and so we founded fire missionministries in the middle of an
election, um, presidentialelection.
When we founded it, everyonetold us, um, you know, it's
(06:53):
gonna take a year or two, maybethree, before you get your
nonprofit status, and it's gonnabe this difficult road.
And I was like, Well, we're justGod, you know, we're going on
faith on this, and so we did it,and we got our exempt status in
47 days.
SPEAKER_02 (07:08):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (07:08):
It was really quick.
Um, and so I felt like God wasbehind that.
And then our mission statementhas the Holy Spirit in it, and
you know, we're veryunapologetic about, you know, we
believe in Jesus and we believeJesus is the way, the truth, and
life.
And so um, people would tell me,don't put that in your mission
statement.
(07:29):
Don't do that.
And so you won't get donations,you won't make it like you need
to change it.
And I'm like, no, this is God'sor God orchestrated this, this
is his mission.
I'm just fulfilling it.
And um, so here we are now, andit's been a year and a half, and
we have And you're the director?
So I'm the president of I'm thepresident of Fire Mission
(07:50):
Ministries.
Um, as of now, um, we're workingon some grants.
Um, once those grants comethrough, then I will step down
from the board and become theexecutive director of the Fire
Mission Ministries program.
Um right now I'm the presidentof Fire Mission and I'm the
executive director of VeteransRoyal Outreach.
SPEAKER_01 (08:08):
Okay.
So uh Bertie.
I know that was long time.
No, you're fine.
Uh that was wonderful executivedirector and of VRO and
president of Fire MissionMinistries.
So, Marla, what is your what'syour title?
What's your responsibility?
What's your role there?
SPEAKER_00 (08:25):
I am the event coordinator for Fire Mission
Ministries.
Okay.
Um I And Marla, can you talk alittle?
SPEAKER_02 (08:31):
What is that?
What do what does Fire MissionMinistries do?
Just in a nutshell.
SPEAKER_00 (08:37):
We help veterans at this is the base.
We help veterans when they're attheir lowest.
And it's, you know, as my storyis not near as cool as Brady's
and as, you know, intensive, butI am a veteran myself.
And you know, I grew up here inShelby County.
I enlisted in the Army because Ihad a guy tell me I couldn't do
it.
So I did it anyway.
(08:59):
Um and I went to ChristianAcademy of Louisville until I
was a sophomore, and then Itransferred back to Shelby
County.
Um, and I had a falling out withfaith, um, a big one.
And it's been many years since Ifelt any kind of closeness to a
religion.
Um, I've always struggled withit because I had it basically
(09:22):
shoved down my throat, wasn'tallowed to formulate my own
opinion.
So I've finally kind of gottento the point that I've able to
formulate my own opinion of myown opinions.
And I've just felt this callingto really be a part of fire
ministries and the veteranveterans' rule outreach.
Um, it's been really importantto me to give back to veterans
in a way that helps them whenthey're at their lowest.
(09:47):
So as the event coordinator, Ihelp run the events where we're
going to where we're looking fordonations, where we're getting
community um community outreach,um, trying to get our our name
out there so people understand,you know, what we do and how we
do it and how we really trulyhelp veterans.
Um it's I've just felt thiscalling.
(10:11):
And so recently uh Brady and Ihave spoken, and I will be
joining the Veterans RuleOutreach um at the beginning of
the new year to help withrunning the programs for the
transitional housing that wehave.
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
Oh, con congratulations.
That sounds good.
And speaking of the transitionalhousing, one of you can, I mean,
it's a hidden gym or a hiddenwonder um in downtown
Shelbyville.
So um one of you talk about thetransitional housing and and how
it came to be.
Where did the funding come from?
SPEAKER_00 (10:43):
And it's amazing.
So I don't know how it started.
That's a good question forBrady.
Um, I know that it is a hiddenwonder.
I had heard about it many, manyyears ago.
Um, but it wasn't until Istumbled upon fire mission
ministries at uh ShelbyChristian Church, I legitimately
stumbled upon them.
(11:04):
Um, because I don't normally goto church.
Um, my church is when I'm out inthe middle of nature.
That's when I feel the closestto God and to Jesus and all of
those things.
Um, that's where I feel theclosest to him.
But the six tiny homes, um,they're close here, they're on
Bradshaw Street here in ShelbyCounty.
(11:24):
It's not far from where we'rephysically sitting right now.
Um they house veterans for sixmonths, um, get them through the
we send them through the programwhere we help file help them
file for housing vouchers, wehelp their disability claims,
um, we get them to and fromdoctor's appointments, um,
things like that.
We basically give them that legup.
(11:45):
So that's, you know, what Bradytalked about, that step two, we
help get them to step three,which is permanent housing, um,
to help them really setthemselves up for success so
that they don't fall back intohomelessness at any point.
Um, it's really important for usto give them the power to do
this for themselves.
So we just we're there with ahelping hand, but they're the
(12:07):
ones that are responsible formaking these appointments and
getting to these places.
We just we're that helping handthat we help walk with them,
just exactly like how Jesuswalks with us.
That's we walk with them.
SPEAKER_02 (12:19):
Oh, that's that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (12:21):
So, how did the where did the idea for the the
transitional housing, where didthat come from?
How did it start?
SPEAKER_03 (12:27):
Sure.
So um in 2015, there were agroup of Vietnam veterans, Dr.
Carlin Pippen, Stanley Pfister,Bobby Pridmore, Robert Baker,
Gerald, Jerry Caram, GeraldSeabrie.
They were at the food pantry andthey were just volunteering.
(12:47):
And they realized that there wasthis need for veterans, and so
they kind of all um got togetherover, you know, a couple of
years and um decided that theywanted to do more than just give
veterans food boxes or put themin a hotel for a night or pay
for you know a utility bill.
And I think that's how itstarted is they they started to
(13:10):
see that veterans were in needof housing when they were coming
to get the food boxes.
And so they all got together andthey put like$500 of their own
money together.
And um they came up with thisidea to build a tiny home.
Originally they were just gonnabuild like one or two, and then
it, you know, it just quicklygrew um into six, and then the
(13:33):
spot where it was planted, um,the the property was being
leased by the industrialfoundation for like a dollar.
They were leasing it to them,and then eventually um the
building next to them, whichused to be the old bar there on
Bradshaw Street, um, thatbuilding was it was almost
needed torn down.
(13:55):
And so they they purchased thatum and they were able to rehab
that building and get it cleanedup, and that's the community
center, what we call theveterans village.
But those guys got together umand created that.
And we lost um Robert Baker.
He passed away during you knowthe the building of it.
Um but the VRO got together withAwake Ministries actually
(14:15):
because they didn't have their501 uh C three three Cive One C3
C three.
Sorry, it's for the line.
I get it wrong every time I sayit, so it was not piping in
there.
So they didn't have that, and soAwake Ministries decided that
they want you know that theywould partner with them and help
them, and so they were able tobring in Crossroads Mission, and
(14:36):
they were the project managerfor it, and they helped
fundraise um and build ittogether, and then in 2000 and
um it was it was built in 2020,that's when they took their
first veteran.
Um, and then shortly after that,Awake Ministries um and the VRO
(14:57):
separated because the VRO gottheir own nonprofit.
That's kind of when everythingtook shape, I think, for the
VRO.
But those guys, they did thisall on the backs of the
community.
The community supported them andall of this.
I mean, um, there wasn't a lotof large grants, it was
(15:18):
donations from you know, localchurches and businesses and the
people of Shelby County.
And so, you know, I telleveryone all the time like this
is Shelby County's gym.
Like, um, you know, thecommunity center is open to
anyone that wants to use it.
You don't have to be a veteran.
Uh, we do dinners every Thursdaynight.
Um, you're welcome to come down,even if you're not a veteran.
(15:38):
If you want to come supportveteran or you want to
volunteer, you can come downthere.
Um, you know, if you would liketo give to the veterans, um, you
know, they're there, you cancome down and visit them.
Um, just come down, get a holdof me, um, set up an
appointment, and we would loveto get more of a community
involved.
But that's that's really how itstarted.
Um, is just a bunch of veteranswant to help other veterans.
SPEAKER_02 (16:02):
That's amazing.
So you mentioned a food pantry.
Is that in the community center,I guess, that veterans can go
to?
SPEAKER_03 (16:08):
The the food pantry is actually the await the
serenity center here.
SPEAKER_02 (16:13):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (16:14):
So we send our veterans down when they're when
they have time to help volunteerdown there.
But the serenity center, um, youknow, we get our food boxes for
the veterans there every week.
Really beneficial to us,especially during this time with
uh the government shutdown.
And um, you know, a lot ofveterans um, you know, that come
(16:35):
out of homelessness are, youknow, they don't they don't have
any income.
And so SNAP benefits is reallycrucial to them.
And so right now, like I just inthe past two days, I have eight
veterans that's called me that'slike we're gonna run out of food
this weekend.
So that's what I'm working onright now is trying to make sure
that these veterans have foodfor the next month because
(16:57):
without us, they I don't knowwhat they would do, to be
honest.
I mean, even even their pets,you know, a lot of them have
service dogs, and so they usethat to to help get dog food and
stuff.
And so I just went this morningand picked up a 50-pound bag of
dog food and took it to aveteran because his dog hadn't
eaten in two days.
SPEAKER_02 (17:16):
Oh gosh.
And that's sad for people.
And I'm so glad you all are herein Shelby County and you're
doing such great work.
Marla, do you have uh what kindof events do you have coming up
for maybe that the communitycould get involved with that to
help or donate or anything onthe horizon?
SPEAKER_00 (17:36):
So right now, see we like I said, we have those
dinners every Thursday night.
Um we have a women's veteransevent coming up.
Um it's the second Tuesday ofevery month.
Um, it's the next one's Novemberthe 11th.
It's from 6:30 to about eight.
Um, which is a sense ofcommunity.
That's um the biggest thing wehave coming.
Those are the two biggest thingsthat we have coming up right
now.
Um we are see the next, um, atleast say up in the coming
(18:00):
month.
Um, but we are also preparingfor Operation Veterans Santa.
Uh that is a uh what we do is welook for 10 families generally
in the surrounding counties inShelby County and then the
surrounding counties.
Um, we look for 10 familieswhere we raise money um to
provide Christmas for them.
We're looking for families thathave kids that are generally 12
(18:22):
and under, um, makes it a littlebit more enjoyable for
Christmas, you know, and thingslike that.
Although we'll today we'relooking for veteran families
just in general.
Um, we have a gun rifle, gunraffle going on right now to
help raise money for it.
Um, you can find that say on ourwebsite.
SPEAKER_03 (18:40):
If you go on um Fire Mission Ministry's Facebook, um
it's posted on there.
So it's actually um we'relooking for 10 veteran families,
veteran families or firstresponder families.
Uh, it can be either um childrenunder the age of 12, and it's
for Shelby County, SpencerCounty, Bullock County,
Jefferson County, and NelsonCounty.
(19:02):
And so we'll sponsor two veteranfamilies per county, um, and
we'll provide them withChristmas.
And last year we did it, and wecovered so we partner with
Warrior Rounds.
It's a place out of anorganization out of Tennessee,
and Warrior Rounds goes andvisits um veterans, um, and the
veteran tells them their storyand they write a song about it.
SPEAKER_02 (19:23):
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_03 (19:24):
So it's a pretty different so they have a chapter
here, and so we partner withthem, and last year we did it,
we raised almost five thousanddollars for uh three families,
and one of the one of thefamilies was the veteran was
actually their theirgrandfather.
He was like eighty years old,and he had COPD and agent orange
(19:46):
issues, and his wife couldn'thardly breathe, and she was on
oxygen, and you know, the theparents weren't around, and they
had like um six grandkids thatthey were raising, they were all
teenagers, and um, so it wasjust we we were able to get them
everything that they you knowasked for.
And um the other families thatwe did were in Shelby County,
(20:10):
and and it's just cool to seeum, you know, because they like
I talk to these veterans, andlike I know right now, if you're
a if you're a dad in general,like you, you know, Christmas
time is stressful because you'relike, I want to make sure that
my children have stuff under thetree.
And I talked to a veteran justthe other day, and he was like,
(20:32):
you know, I'm gonna be able toget my children a hoodie.
You know, I got two daughtersand a son, and they're each
gonna get a hoodie forChristmas.
And he's like, that's all I cando.
And um, so I know it's a reallystressful time for those
veterans, and so we just wannatake away all that stress.
SPEAKER_00 (20:49):
So if anyone knows of any veteran families, feel
free to reach out on to us onour Facebook page.
Um, we will get them.
Say we'll add them to our to ourlist and um get them and help
them for Christmas.
You can also purchase the gunraffle tickets, uh, which does
go to helping raise money.
Um, but you also can feel freeto just donate straight to Fire
(21:09):
Mission Ministries or theirveteran control outreach.
And we will, as a sponsor, um,say especially for businesses,
local businesses around here,we're looking for sponsorships.
We'll add you to the trailerthat we take around uh for
Christmas.
We have fire trucks, policecars, vehicles, trucks, and
things like that.
We show up and it's a big partyto celebrate Christmas with
these families to give them, youknow, the ability to give their
(21:32):
families Christmas presents.
SPEAKER_03 (21:34):
Um Yeah, we have a box trailer.
Um, it's like a eight by twelve.
And so what we want to do is putall the sponsors on that
trailer, you know.
Yeah.
Anyone that supports veteransand gotcha.
SPEAKER_02 (21:48):
That's very, very neat.
And I don't think we talkedabout it, we talked about it
before the show started, but umhow the name Fire Mission
Ministries came about, peoplemight be really, really
interested in that.
SPEAKER_03 (21:59):
So um w when we decided we were going to do a
nonprofit, you know, me and mywife talked about like, well,
what do what do we want to callit?
And I wanted it to have somekind of meaning to veterans,
like civilians, most of themhave no idea what a fire mission
is, but to veterans, especiallyyou know, combat veterans, they
know what fire mission is, whata fire mission is, and so um I
(22:25):
think I was trying to create alogo and it just I was like,
Well, I want a soldier in thereand I want it like where they're
being protected in a way, andthen I s it just clicked and I
was like, fire mission.
And so in our mission statement,it kind of ties to that.
So um a fire mission is when uha combat soldier is penned down
(22:50):
by the enemy, they're being umyou know overran and they call
in support from aircraft,artillery, mortars, um, and
their quick reaction force, andthey show up and help suppress
the enemy so that they cancontinue to move forward on the
battlefield.
And so, just like in themilitary, Fire Mission wants to
(23:11):
help suppress whatever a veteranis struggling with so that they
continue to fight on and andmove forward in life.
And so, um, you know, I telleveryone that just because they
don't look at veterans at theircurrent situation, a lot of
(23:32):
people will will see someone andsay, Well, that guy's homeless,
you know, and and and they'requick to make assumptions about
them.
But I can tell you, like, I'vehad veterans that come in and
you're like, their beard's allgrown out, their clothes are
raggedy, they're covered in mud.
You bring them in, you sh youknow, give them a haircut,
(23:52):
shave, put new clothes on them,you know, feed them, put them in
a house for a week, and youcould run into that same
veteran, and that veteran couldbe running, you know, he could
be the CEO of any company intown.
Like so a lot of times is itjust you know, the basics is
(24:15):
it's hard to do anything whenyou're hungry.
You know, you're surviving,right?
You're trying to find food,water, shelter.
So if you can cover those threethings, then that takes off so I
mean it helps with even likemental health issues, it it
fixes those for the most part.
Like it alleviates a lot ofthose symptoms.
Um, physical issues, italleviates a lot of those
(24:36):
symptoms.
Um even relationships, you know,um that they struggle with with
family and things like that.
You get them fed, you know, andput in a house and cleaned up,
and and then they're able tostart working on those
relationships.
So um, you know, all of that isI consider the enemy, right?
(24:57):
So if we're able to suppress allof the things that the veteran
everything that's attacking theveteran, then we can help the
veteran overcome that.
And fire mission is we doclinical treatment services, we
want to cover that mentalhealth, addiction, PTSD, um,
military sexual trauma, um,traumatic brain injury, like
(25:18):
those are our focuses.
But we're also ministry and um,you know, we want to build a
foundation in Christ for theseveterans.
We don't ask them to sign anykind of statement uh of faith,
we don't ask them to getbaptized, um, we don't even
force them to go to church.
We just tell them, hey, uh we'regoing to um help you, and all of
(25:40):
our principles are gonna bebiblical principles, and and
we're gonna meet you right whereyou're at, just like Christ did.
And so through that we dooutreach, um, we do uh suicide
awareness, PTSD, TBI and MSTawareness.
Um we help veterans with alltheir you know immediate needs,
(26:03):
like the dog food today.
Um, you know, last week it was aveteran that needed insurance.
The week before that was aveteran that needed car battery,
you know, Christmas.
SPEAKER_02 (26:13):
We were able to help with all those things, I guess.
SPEAKER_03 (26:15):
Yeah, we just amazing.
We we have an amazing board, andthe VRO does the same thing.
Um, the VRO, um, so VeteransWorld Outreach does service
intensive transitional housing,six-month program that helps
veterans.
Um, so there's step two, I telleveryone.
And then fire mission ministriesum does um clinical uh treatment
(26:38):
services, um, case managementoutreach um and immediate
support.
And so we try and capture theveteran in the beginning.
Um, a lot of times the veterangoes into the VA hospital in the
emergency room, and they willsend them up to um a separate
floor called SARP and it'saddiction recovery unit, and
(26:59):
they can stay there for likefour to six weeks.
I mean, they can stay therelonger if they need to, but on
average it's four to six weeks,and then they try and send them
out to one of the programs.
And oftentimes these programsare transitional housing, and so
it kind of just jumps from I'm aweek, you know, I'm a month
sober to I'm six months awayfrom moving out on my own, and
(27:23):
it just doesn't ever go well.
SPEAKER_02 (27:24):
Well, I love that you've said you all help with
the final getting them their owntheir own health.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (27:31):
It's not see, it's not just a a stepping stone.
This is something that we helpthem for all the future.
See, in the veterans that havemoved out of the tiny home
village, they still come everyThursday.
Um, they're still a huge part ofthe community that we can rely
on that we can, you know, pulltowards if we have veterans that
are struggling with somethingbecause they have help in their
(27:54):
peers.
So it's something that's reallyhelpful to us to talk to
somebody that has gone throughwhat you're going through.
Um, so it's it's a reallyamazing, strong community that
we're building.
SPEAKER_01 (28:05):
Uh, we're coming up on time.
Uh so kind of closing question,whoever wants to answer it, feel
free.
Uh, is there one shining successstory?
You can leave names out uh fromsomeone who has gone through the
transitional housing program,and you know, you've really been
able to kind of watch them.
SPEAKER_03 (28:21):
You want me to do it?
SPEAKER_01 (28:22):
Yeah, I'll let you take this one.
Flourish, you know, once they'vegone through the program.
SPEAKER_03 (28:26):
Sure.
Um before I say that, I do wantto say so.
There's three steps in this.
There's the step one, which isfire mission, um, step two,
which is veterans for outreach.
So you got clinical treatment,then you got transition
transitional housing, and thenyou have um the permanent
housing.
And so fire mission and VRO havebeen doing the permanent
together.
(28:46):
Like we have an apartment herein town um that we do love
subsidy for veterans, and wehave a house that veterans rent
through fire mission.
And so we're trying to captureall three of that.
So we have the veteran for like,you know, two years.
So we ensure their success.
Um, but with that success story,I would say one of the most
successful um guys that I'veworked with, um, he's actually
(29:11):
on our board now.
Um, he came to us, he was um,you know, recovering.
Uh, he was homeless.
Um, he had a lot of trouble withhis health.
And um, he was able to comethrough the um the tiny homes
and you know, he was able tohave get his surgeries done.
We were able to help him get hisVA disability, so he was getting
(29:34):
income.
Um, we were able to help him gethis own car.
We were able to help him find ajob, and um we helped him with
his finances, he helped fix hiscredit.
Um, and he actually moved, so hewas in the tiny homes and then
he moved to our apartments forabout eight months while he was
(29:54):
uh finishing fixing his credit,and he just recently purchased
his own home.
SPEAKER_01 (29:59):
Wow.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (30:02):
So we've had forty forty-seven veterans
successfully complete thesix-month program at the BRO.
And we've had five over fiveveterans that I know of purchase
their own home within a year ofleaving our program.
And we've had seven or eightvehicles that have been donated,
and we just when people whensomeone donates a vehicle to us,
(30:25):
we just make sure it's safe, weget it fixed up, and then we
just donate it to the nextveteran in line that needs it.
SPEAKER_02 (30:30):
So you guys are doing such great work and we are
so thankful you're in ChelseaCounty.
SPEAKER_01 (30:35):
Absolutely.
Um that is everything that wehave.
Do you have anything uh thingyou want to add?
How do people learn more?
Uh what's the website address,social media, stuff like that?
SPEAKER_03 (30:44):
So they can go to um www.fire mission ministries.com.
Um and we're about to have a newwebsite up here in the next
month.
Um and it's very interactive.
It's got all it's gonna have allthe resources on there um for
everything that a veteran needs.
And or you can go towww.vroky.org.
(31:07):
Um that's where you'll find umthere's application on there.
If you know a veteran that's inneed of um housing, you can go
on there and fill out a preapplication and that gets the
process started.
Um you can also follow us onFacebook um and Instagram for
VRO and Facebook, but Facebookis really where you want to be.
(31:29):
Um that's where all of ourinformation goes out.
So Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (31:35):
Well thank you both.
Yes, thank you for being here.
Absolutely thank you for havingus.
We really appreciate Salu thingus to thank you for all you do.
Yeah, just spread our word.
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