When Amber Travis didn’t have a job last year, she volunteered for the Veterans Administration in Jackson. The opportunity opened her eyes.
“We have veterans that have served our country and don’t have either the benefits that they need or don’t have the financial means to get the continued care once they are discharged from the hospital,” she said. “That gave me even more encouragement to start this organization.”
The organization, Grace’s Home of Heroes, is Travis’ effort to pay forward the care she received growing up. It also continues the compassion she gave her great grandmother, who passed away in 2016.
“A year ago I started to build the business,” she said. “I started to put things together and started a business plan. However, we didn’t actually become a nonprofit until June 2019. We became a nonprofit, and then I launched it to the community in October 2019.”
Travis turned toward helping veterans when she saw how her grandfather was affected.
“My grandfather is a Vietnam veteran,” she said. “With him, I get to witness firsthand his not being able to receive his full benefits, loss of records and things like that.”
While Travis has an ultimate goal of building an assisted-living facility that houses elderly veterans and their spouses, the immediate need is to educate the community on her organization.
“We host events, like the Mardi Gras Ball, to show veterans our appreciation,” she said. “There are a lot of veterans that are in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. We just want to give them opportunities to get out and have fun.”
The organization is holding its next event for veterans and their spouses on Feb. 22. The inaugural Military Mardi Gras Ball will be held at 6 p.m. at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Thad Cochran Ballroom. Veterans 60 years old and older will be admitted free, and RSVP must be at 601.543.2126.
The Mardi Gras Ball is open to the public, and tickets – $35 each or $60 for couples – can be purchased through Eventbrite.
Travis said she understands the loneliness felt by elderly residents.
“I just know that with my grandmother, a lot of elderly people feel like they are forgotten, or as younger people, we’re too busy to interact with them or take them places,” she said. “We hope that these events allow the opportunity to let them know that we care about them. They sacrificed their time and their families for our country, so why not host events where we’re able to give back to them throughout the year and not just on special holidays?”
With the establishment of an assisted-living facility, Travis said Grace’s Home of Heroes pays forward providing care for veterans. The organization has begun looking for locations for the facility.
“We want to start out small with five or six residences,” she said. “As we grow, get our feet wet with that, and work out all the kinks, then we want to build a facility that houses about 15 people. I want to keep it small because I don’t want our residents to feel like they are just another number; I want them again to feel like they are at home and we have a relationship with them.”
The veterans’ facility puts Travis in a different position.
“My older sister and her mother had a home-care service, and they were inside an assisted-living facility,” she said. “My entire life I have been around elderly people and taking care of them, so this is nothing really new to me. Just now, I am the boss.”
While taking care of the elderly, Travis realizes the ultimate result can be sad.
“That is the toughest part, becoming attached to people – especially when they are older – and then you lose them,” she said. “However, I strongly believe that when the time comes, between now and then God is going to prepare me for that simply because I believe this is my purpose. If this is my purpose from God, then He will be able to prepare me to deal with that when the time comes.”
For Travis, Grace’s Home of Heroes began when she was a child.
“Grace was my babysitter coming up,” she said. “She played a big part in my life as well from the time I was maybe six weeks old until I was about 15 years old. When I was older and got out of school, I would go over and help her take care of the kids. She had this unwavering commitment to take care of kids, and I have this unwavering commitment to take care of elderly people. That’s where ‘Grace’ came from.
“I have paid it forward every chance I get,” she continued. “She was more than a babysitter; she became an aunt to me. What better way to pay tribute to her than to name our organization after her.”
Anyone who would like to support Grace’s Home of Heroes, please visit the website at www.graceshomeofheroes.com and click the donate button. Donations may be sent to P.O. Box 18492, Hattiesburg, MS 39404.