THE HOMECOMING HEROES GRANT

At Modest Needs, we understand that U.S. military personnel currently returning from active overseas duty face unique challenges as they transition back to civilian life. These include long delays in processing their final active duty paychecks and the receipt of VA and other benefits to which they are entitled, as well as special challenges posed by the lingering physical and mental impact of all they have experienced during the longest combat operation since Vietnam.

Modest Needs is proud to support military veterans who have recently returned from overseas deployment through our Homecoming Heroes Grant - a special program designed to prevent our veterans from slipping into poverty as they work to make the difficult transition from overseas deployment to civilian life.

Through our Homecoming Heroes Grant, Modest Needs is able to offer qualified persons returning from active overseas duty the following two types of assistance:

  • Help to afford a one-time emergency expense that would otherwise pose a tremendous hardship for the applicant or his/her household.

    For example, we might make a Homecoming Heroes grant to help a veteran who has experienced a temporary budgetary shortfall through no fault of his or her own to afford the cost of a medical appointment, an auto repair, an insurance deductible, an unusually large utility bill, or virtually any other type of unexpected expense, especially when it is clear that remitting payment for that expense would place the applicant's household in financial jeopardy; or

  • Help to afford the cost of a regular monthly bill, like a rental or mortgage payment, which the applicant cannot pay due to any of the following circumstances:

    A delay in processing VA, GI Bill or other benefits to which the applicant is entitled; a delay in the receipt of an active duty paycheck due to Government audit; the receipt of an active duty paycheck that has been substantially reduced due to overpayment after Government audit; a temporary loss of income due to the veteran's participation in a vocational, rehabilitation, or mental health program; or in situations where a veteran has recently returned/is about to return to work, but is temporarily short on funds while he or she waits to receive that first paycheck from his or her new place of employment.

GRANT LIMITATIONS

In addition to the restrictions we place on all of the grant types we offer at Modest Needs, (read about the limitations of our Self-Sufficiency Grant for more information on these restrictions), our Homecoming Heroes grant does have a few additional limitations:

  • In order to be eligible to apply for a Homecoming Heroes grant, the applicant must be able to document that he or she has been honorably released from active military duty within the past five years.

  • The applicant must have applied for (or be waiting to receive) a source of income that, once established, will allow the applicant to maintain a level of self-sufficiency.

GRANT QUALIFICATION GUIDELINES

If an applicant's responses to our online application indicates that the applicant's household qualifies to apply for a Homecoming Heroes grant, our Application Wizard will always automatically direct the applicant to our Homecoming Heroes grant application.