From Military.com:
“Specially Adapted Housing Program Must Expand to Meet
Disabled Vets' Needs”
Retired Army Capt. Ryan Kules is the Wounded Warrior
Project’s Combat Stress Recovery director.
When American service members are injured in training or
wounded on the battlefield, they often face unique challenges in recovering and
adapting to their new state of ability. I was wounded in combat on Nov. 29,
2005, in Taji, Iraq, when my vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive
device. In addition to losing two of my soldiers, Sgts. Mills and Hasse, I lost
my right arm and left leg, and underwent years of physical and occupational
therapy to re-learn how to navigate my environment. I also had to make my
environment more navigable by adapting my home. The Department of Veterans
Affairs' Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) program was one of the things that
helped me. The program’s grants provide veterans like me funds (up to three
requests per person, with an overall limit of $85,645) to assist with the
purchase or construction of an adaptive home to help accommodate our disabilities.
This is a great benefit, but the law has two shortfalls.
First, it did not come close to covering all the costs of
adapting my home. After I retired from the Army, my wife and I found a house
and used the SAH grant. At that time, the SAH benefit was just over $64,000,
but the grant didn’t cover the more than $100,000 we needed to modify our home.
Second, the SAH grant
meets the needs of veterans like me at only one moment in time. As our family
grew, we decided to move to a house that better met our changing needs. Since I
had used the SAH grant to cover adaptations in our previous home, we paid more
than $90,000 out of pocket to modify our current home. As younger veterans like
me grow, get married or have families, our needs in an adaptive home change
dramatically. This is also true for those whose disabilities get worse over
time.
A veteran with a prosthetic leg might be fine to walk around
their home when they are in their 30s, but they might require a motorized
wheelchair when they become senior citizens. It is important that this benefit
evolves to meet the changing needs of disabled veterans and help them at
various stages of their lives. Additionally, veterans, like most Americans,
tend to move around the country as their jobs relocate. Disabled veterans
already have a higher unemployment rate than their civilian peers, so improving
this benefit would also contribute to greater financial stability and economic
empowerment for veterans and their families by ensuring their homes meet their
needs. This is why Wounded Warrior Project is advocating to pass the Specially
Adapted Housing Act of 2019, sponsored by Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Florida, and
co-sponsored by Rep. Mike Levin, D-California. The act would fully reinstate
SAH benefits to eligible veterans every 10 years to accommodate moving and
normal life changes.
This bill will also:
Increase the number of times the benefit can be accessed from
three to six.
Increase the number of people who can apply annually from 30
to 120.
Increase the aggregate amount of the benefit for acquisition
of a house with special features from $85,645 to $98,492.
Increase the amount of assistance for adaptations to
veterans’ residences from $12,756 to $19,733.
Reinstating the full SAH benefit every 10 years will go a
long way in helping many disabled veterans adapt their current or future homes
to meet normal life changes and significantly improve their quality of life.
^ This was a thought-provoking article from someone who is a
disabled soldier who used this program himself. ^
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