Source: The News Journal | Jun 30, 2017

MILFORD, Del,– Jessica Finan works to ensure homeless veterans have a place to go.

Finan is the executive director of the Home of the Brave Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization that provides places to live for homeless veterans.

One home can house up to 15 male veterans, another can hold up to eight female veterans and their kids for up to two years.

Home of the Brave also helps these veterans get any benefits to which they are entitled.

“The end result is finding them permanent, supportive housing,” Finan said.

Delaware has a special court, known as Veterans Treatment Court, which hears cases about veterans and whose sole purpose is to assist veterans and to ensure they receive proper treatment for issues such as substance abuse rather than having them go through the Delaware penal system.

Finan and the Home of the Brave Foundation work with the court to ensure any veteran who is homeless has a place to sleep and call home.

At a Veterans Treatment Court session on Thursday, June 29, Finan and her efforts were honored by the court, and the foundation was given supplies to help ensure the houses have enough supplies to help every veteran who comes through their doors.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “We obviously have a budget to purchase these things for both households. … This helps us reduce our budget and helps us be able to channel some money back into helping for transportation, paying for any type of utility deposit and co-pays for medicine any of the veterans may need. It’s a big help.”

Richard Stokes, the judge who presides over Veterans Treatment Court in Sussex County, recognized Finan for her efforts.

He said many of the good things that are happening to the veterans are because of organizations such as Home of the Brave Foundation and the Veterans of Foreign Wars who “work to ensure no veteran is left behind.”

“What we have this morning is a representation of the group efforts by so many people who are dedicated to help our veterans succeed,” he added.

Stokes said Finan has been dedicated to helping veterans, both men and women, and she has a “can-do” attitude whose mission is to establish facilities for homeless veterans.

The transitional housing provided by Home of the Brave Foundation as well as the services provided helps contribute to every veteran’s success and to ensure no veteran is left behind, Stokes added.

The effort to give the supplies to Finan and the Home of the Brave Foundation was organized by one of the bailiffs in Veterans Treatment Court, Rene Flores, after Finan challenged Flores to get the supplies.

Flores circulated a wish list to all levels of courts throughout Sussex County along with the VFW Post 2931 Georgetown-Ellendale to get the supplies for the Home of the Brave Foundation, Stokes said.

“I can’t take all the credit,” Flores said. “My team of bailiffs, when presented with a challenge, they all stepped forward.”

But Finan wasn’t the only person to be recognized at the session.

Flores also took the time to recognize Steve Weaver, who helped create a mural in front of the courtroom.

“We came up with the idea and created this specific mural,” Flores said. “As most of you are aware, we are in a budget crunch with the state, so I approached Mr. Weaver, and he gladly donated all the work, all the materials to the superior court and the veterans court. So I would like to take this time to thank Mr. Weaver.”