After serving in the military oversees, what could be better than coming home to a warm, welcoming house? For one, arriving home to a house that doesn’t have a mortgage.
When Austin Baker returned home to Maine after eight years serving with the Marine Corps that included two tours overseas, he struggled to find his footing as he experienced anxiety and depression. “When I got out, I started my own business, it fell through and I ended up losing everything,” Baker told Katherine Underwood of CBS 13.
So he applied to Operation Homefront, a Colorado Springs-based nonprofit that helps veterans struggling with financial difficulties with whatever they need — including housing, transportation, health care, moving assistance and car repairs. This month he became the first veteran in Maine to receive a mortgage-free home from Operation Homefront’s Homes on the Homefront program.
Operation Homefront partners with financial institutions including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, and Meritage Homes who donate houses for veterans. Wells Fargo remodeled and donated the formerly foreclosed home that Baker received, which is conveniently located near the veterans services Baker needs. “I’m getting a lot better and getting a lot of help from the Portland Vet Center and the VA,” Baker said. Currently, Baker is enrolled at Southern Maine Community College, studying criminal justice, and he plans to continue on to law school. Meanwhile, he will soon move into his new home with his fiancée and kids.
Receiving the house, on which he’ll be responsible for paying the taxes, “was a big relief. I haven’t had many good things happen in a while, so it felt really good.”
MORE: These Sisters Created an Incredible Place to Help Veterans
Tag: Maine
These Girls’ 8th Birthday Was One Their School Will Never Forget
Some kids are wise beyond their years. For their 8th birthdays, second graders Gabbie and Alice didn’t want presents. Instead, these selfless students at George J. Mitchell School in Waterville, Maine, decided to give to others. As Good News Network reports, the community is one of the poorest in the state, so last year the school opened a food pantry so that any student or their families can have access to free food, no questions asked.
Knowing about the situation that their fellow classmates were in, the best friends decided that for their joint birthday, they wanted donations to the pantry in lieu of gifts. When the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization president Jennifer Johnson heard about the girls’ wish, she set up a GoFundMe page and helped the girls quickly raise $1,760 in three days. That amounts to more than four months’ supply of food for the pantry, Johnson wrote on the site.
MORE: This State Is Making Sure No Child is Ever Denied a School Lunch
Anyone interested in donating to the school can do so on the fundraising site. As Johnson wrote, “Every single little donation helps, and encourages not only these girls, but others that come after them, to embrace the spirit of community and generosity. It sends the message that even kids can make a difference in the world. It feeds families in need.” Now that’s the gift of giving.
America’s Next Innovation Hub Is Farther North Than You’d Think
Maine residents are famous for hard-working self-reliance, and it’s not just because of the weather. The state’s tourism-based economy and northern latitude can make it a hard place to earn a living. But Don Gooding, who heads the non-profit Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development (MCED) is making sure that in-state entrepreneurs get the support they need to succeed. MCED runs innovation-focused “Top Gun” classes and helps connect business owners with investors and mentors. If you are looking for small, vibrant cities to launch or expand your business, Portland and Bangor are only two of Maine’s increasingly hip places to live.
Source: Maine Mag
Here’s a Scholarship That Does More Than Send Kids to College
The state of Maine realizes that one size doesn’t fit all in the realm of higher education and career preparation. So it’s using the Competitive Skills Scholarship Program to offer low-income students multiple options to gain an education and a job in a high-growth field. The program awards funding for four-year degrees, certificate training, or apprenticeship programs to students who demonstrate that there are jobs in their chosen field within commuting distance, or in an area of Maine where they’ll move after their education is completed. The Department of Labor is working on making the program more effective and able to serve more students, so it can help more Maine residents get out of poverty and into a good job.