Thursday, December 18, 2008

Haley House in Tampa, FL, Provides Housing for Relatives of Hospitalized Military Personnel/ Vets

Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com and I interviewed on our BlogTalkRadio show Mary Ellen Harlan, the volunteer director of Haley House Fund, which raises funds for the Haley House in Tampla, Fl, to provide housing for family members visiting patients at the nearby James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.

I have to admit that a couple of times I had to force back tears as Mary Ellen described what she and the other volunteers do to provide support for our military personnel going through rehab at the VA Hospital or veterans who have come to the VA Hospital at the end of their lives.

Mary Ellen described one wounded soldier who claimed he wanted to die. But the Haley House was a temporary home for his wife and baby daughter. Mary Ellen encouraged him with the reminder that he was his baby's only father. And with the support of his family nearby, he recovered his will to live and was discharged from the hospital.

Haley House is run totally on donations, and there's a real shortage at the moment. Mary Ellen was passionate about her determination not to turn down any family member who wanted to be near hospitalized loved ones. But she doesn't know how she's going to get the money she needs.

Please go to Haley House Fund and donate whatever you can. And if you're not convinced by my words, then go to YourMilitaryLife.com and listen to Mary Ellen tell in her own words how Haley House provides badly needed support for our wounded troops and veterans -- and how Haley House now is badly in need of support itself to continue its amazing work.

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