Nonprofit helps find homes for Disabled Vets

Val Van Meter
Winchester Star Life Reporter

WINCHESTER — John S. Lewandowski wants to go into his kitchen and cook a meal for his wife.

But with three failed knee surgeries, the retired Army staff sergeant needs a wheelchair to move about and his National Avenue house wasn’t built with a wheelchair in mind, so he can’t go into some of its rooms.

Few houses are, and that puts disabled veterans at a disadvantage, said Lewandowski he wants to change that. He is president of the Disabled Veterans Committee on Housing, a new nonprofit group which hopes to help veterans with disabilities to find homes adapted to their needs. This will most likely happen by building them. Some 1,800 wounded veterans are back from Iraq and Afghanistan, Lewandowski said, joining disabled veterans from earlier wars — who are aging and whose disabilities may be getting worse ., and most live in houses not adapted for the disabled. “You need a five-foot turnaround for a wheelchair,” he said.

The federal Department of Veterans Affairs has programs to help disabled veterans, including housing efforts, but few veterans know about them, Lewandowski said and getting through the red tape isn’t always easy. The idea for helping disabled veterans to find houses suited to their needs actually came from Richard Seely, President of Seely & Associates Inc. and a board member of the committee. “There was a huge void,” Seely said.

“A Huge Void”

He suggested that the answer was building the appropriate houses and he knew just the person to do that — his son Richard Seely Jr., a housing contractor. Seely Jr. has qualified with the VA to build adaptive housing. But, Seely said, it quickly became apparent that the area where veterans most needed help was with the process. “So, we all worked together to create this ‘One-Stop Shop,’” Seely said.

“Cutting the red tape”

That’s where Patricia L. Davis comes in.
An experienced loan officer, real estate agent, and certified housing counselor, she will be the mediator between veterans and the bureaucracies they must deal with to obtain the benefits they are entitled to, Lewandowski said.

For example, if a veteran would like to build a $200,000 home, Davis said, the VA has a program. It will fund up to $60,000 toward the house for veterans who have 100 percent service-connected disabilities. We have all the current eligibility requirements from the Special Adapted Housing Branch. She can work with a bank to fund the rest of the mortgage, making sure the veteran has the income and credit scores to qualify. “I can even find the lot, if needed.”

As a certified housing counselor, Davis said, that’s an important aspect of her participation. Two years ago, if more people had obtained counseling about their loans and mortgages, she said, “we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in now.” She can also work with a builder on a draw schedule and make sure each part of the financial equation works out.
“We don’t put a vet in any kind of harm. That means not putting him in a house he can’t afford,” Lewandowski said so all the pieces are in place, he said.

“Leading the Way”

His job is to get the word out, so disabled veterans know they can get help and where to call.

“I’m Polish. I love to talk. I’ll talk this up until I’m blue in the face,” Lewandowski said.

While he may be confined to a chair, he can use the telephone and the computer, which means he can talk to and for veterans. “I’m a vet,” he said, and other vets feel comfortable talking to him.
In fact, he said, he has several disabled veterans on the committee for just that reason — they
understand the problems and the needs, and also how to deal with the VA.

The committee is completing the paperwork for its first project, a new adapted house in Shawneeland, Lewandowski said.

“Dreaming big”

He’s already dreaming of bigger & better things. What about a Veterans Village?

If someone would like to donate a structure, Lewandowski envisions an apartment complex for disabled veterans, with the units adapted to individual needs. It might have a communal dining area, he said, with a social room, beauty and barber shop, and television lounge, so disabled veterans wouldn’t be so isolated.

“A lot of vets don’t want to talk about their service, because they felt nobody cared,” he said. But get them together and they can have relationships with people who do care.

Perhaps single-family homes could be placed around the main building — for married vets and their families, “similar to [the] Westminster-Canterbury [retirement complex], but not as elaborate.”

He’d also like to have a contingency fund to help new residents with the expenses of moving in, such as deposits or the first tank of fuel oil. “There are so many things I’d love to accomplish in the time that “I have left.”

We’re lucky to have John working with us on this,” said Seely. “He’s the door-opener.”

Lewandowski said he’s working with eight veterans on a variety of other problems, from jobs to house repairs to advice.

“I’ve got a lot