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Veteran needs help to get home backFundraising effort seeks $132,000 for Hamburg resident
Howell, Michigan: -- A Livingston County Veterans Affairs employee hopes others will step up to help an 82-year-old Hamburg Township veteran on the brink of being homeless.
Joshua Parish, a veterans benefits counselor, launched a crowdfunding campaign June 25 and plans to host fundraisers to try and raise $132,008 for Ross Dahlberg to reclaim his home before a six-month redemption period expires Sept. 26.
Owing about $4,000 in mortgage payments, the Korean War-era veteran lost his home of 17 years at a sheriffs auction in March while in the hospital recovering from triple-bypass surgery. Parish said he believes Dahlberg was overlooked by a state system when he applied for financial assistance.
Its not just this veteran in this county that its happening to, its everywhere, Parish said.
Dahlberg, who uses a wheelchair due to the effects of diabetes, said he applied for assistance through the StepForward program after he fell behind on mortgage payments after several surgeries and a divorce.
Parish said he had been conditionally approved through the program and was told his house would not be foreclosed upon while the program processed his application. Yet, Dahlberg received a letter from the program weeks later informing him that his application had been declined due to a clerical error, Parish said.
Either something fell through the cracks, or someone didnt do their job, said Parish, who is acting as a representative for Dahlberg while he recovers from a bacterial infection at a Howell rehabilitation facility.
Its a nightmare, said Dahlberg, who said his faith is helping him through his situation. Its like Im in a horror chamber.
More news story:
http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20140711/NEWS01/307110012/Veteran-needs-help-to-get-home-back
GoFundme site:
http://www.gofundme.com/KoreanWarVeteran
misterhighwasted
(9,148 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I understand he was in the hospital and And maybe unable to write a check for the payment. However, when he got out, the money would have still been in the account. I am so glad I electronically pay. I could be in the hospital a year and the house would be paid at least. Well best of luck to him. He needs to contact the bank to ensure his account was not hacked.
earthside
(6,960 posts)What difference does being a 'veteran' have to being rendered potentially homeless by medical issues and divorce?
Besides, what does being a Korean-era 'veteran' mean? Was he a clerk? Was he in Korea? For most folks, being in the military is/was just a job -- it doesn't necessarily mean 'hero' or having been in a war zone, etc.
'Veterans' are people just like the rest of us and I just don't see why there should be any different treatment. It seems like these days all you have to do to activate the liberal-guilt response is attach the word 'veteran' to anything and people go all gushy (to be fair this tactic is being used on America at-large, too -- like the insurance and mortgage TV ads I've seen just for veterans).