Founded in 2012 by Kendall R. Brune, Ph.D., MBA, LNHA, FACHCA, Wes Sperr, MBA, MA, FACHCA, David Kirkland, David Woolley, Scott Wanamaker, JD and Jeanette Bax-Kurtz, CPA (Partner, Mueller Probst), Anthem USA, LLC creates community-based planned rehabilitation communities designed to serve returning military families and retired veterans. The three brands they have  Trace Properties, Oasis Care Centers and Veteran Villages of America.

Trace Properties was established to provide market rate housing for the communities that are close to a veteran, university or community college.  Trace properties have priced their market rate units in line with the off-base and GI educational/housing pricing index.  We are not direct contractors with the federal government, but  they provide affordable rental units approved for veteran approved funding.

Oasis Care Centers was established to provide a licensed level of care to returning veterans, their families and widows of veterans.  Our Oasis Care Centers provide a licensed level of support for individuals that are challenged with mental and behavioral health issues, transitional housing support for individuals with orthopedic limitations and medication modification program as they transition back into civilian life.  Oasis will be a strategic partner to healthcare and vocational providers in the region they reside.

Through Veteran Villages of American (an Anthem USA affiliate) a mission is to establish housing, educational and business models in the following settings: rural, suburban, and urban. The principals bring more than 125 years of combined supportive housing and healthcare experience.  Dr. Brune has also established business and research relationships with universities, community colleges, and vocational colleges throughout the United States.

Anthem USA is actively partnering with select communities to enhance housing, educational, employment and other services for veterans and their families. Critical indicators are used to identify needs in veteran service areas, temporary to permanent housing inventory, employment availability and also vocational and higher education accessibility (including distance learning).

Key location requirements are readily available and accessible housing assets (or development sites), availability of public transportation, proximity to veteran hospital and out-patient services, quality primary and secondary public schools for veteran family children, access to community colleges and major universities and finally to be located within 60 miles of a military base.

The principals have attracted experienced healthcare and housing professionals to their team with connections to many municipalities, hospitals, home health agencies, not-for-profit boards, nursing homes, associations and other government agencies.  The management team has successfully turned around non-performing/non-compliant facilities. The principals have the patience, willingness, and creativity to coordinate and implement holistic projects.

Flexibility, creativity, and attention to detail form the foundation upon which Anthem USA has established its niche in veteran friendly initiatives.

The need: With currently over 200,000 veterans at risk of homelessness and unemployment, the Veterans Administration has supported demonstration projects that address the following critical areas of support

1. Aggressive outreach to those veterans living on the streets and in shelters, who otherwise would not seek assistance.
2. Clinical assessment and referral to needed medical treatment for physical and psychiatric disorders, including substance abuse.
3. Long-term sheltered transitional assistance, case management, and rehabilitation.
4. Employment assistance and linkage with available income supports.
5. Supported transitional and permanent housing.

Example of collaborative groups working with Anthem USA in our veteran centric operations are:  Future Without Poverty www.FWOP.org , Give an Hour www.GiveAnHour.org, GO Network www.gonetworkstl.com, HeroesCare www.HeroesCare.org, Preferred Family Healthcare www.pfh.org, The Mission Continues www.MissionContinues.org, Purple Heart Homes www.purplehearthomesusa.org.

Some current projects completed or in process are:

RiverTrace Townhomes (RTC): A suburban housing example RTC is located in North St. Louis County, strategically placed within 5 miles of key stakeholders with our Veteran Centric sustainability model:

• Within 5 miles of a Veteran affiliated community/vocational college, private college and major state university.
• Within 5 miles of a Veteran Skilled Rehabilitation and Outpatient Center
• Within 5 miles of a Veteran Centric employer(s)
• This site with 96 apartments is fully occupied  and has a waiting list

Veterans IT Center: An Urban housing example

• Veterans IT Center is in a disadvantaged St. Louis city location
• Repurposing a 1890 Catholic Campus,
• Provides transitional housing,
• Collaboration includes a community/vocational certification process leading to employment
• 12 apartments available for veterans currently and 6 apartments for families with children.
• Common kitchen and dining room for veteran apartment building.

Some 4 blocks away from the Veteran IT center , Anthem, USA will close on a second former Catholic campus .The monastery  when renovated will  have 95 apartments for veterans and rooms for educational and social meetings.    Currently a food bank operating out the facility will be continued to serve the local community.    On back end of the property they have gym and space for a future school.

This site will provide a food pantry, wellness center, community care coordination, a free clinic, adult day & childcare, and onsite supportive housing for veterans in transition or challenged by PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome).
This site houses an indoor Olympic swimming pool.  Our first goal will be to make this pool handicap accessible for not only the veteran, but the greater community.

Recently a hotel taken over by a new owner donated some ten floors of furniture to veteran housing and some four hundred volunteers helped move the furniture into storage.

Dr Kendall Brune is the Vice President for Development at FWOP. He has linked FWOP with some influential groups to reduce homelessness and prevent poverty in St Louis.

Dr Stan Ingman from UNT/FWOP recently visited Anthem USA team to learn about how FWOP and UNT students can assist in the implementation of supportive housing projects for veterans in St Louis.

This past summer I tried to walk a mile in their shoes, the homeless shoes.  The drive to do this was because the feelings that use to surge through me whenever someone would stop by our migrant camp has never left me.

My life as a migrant worker began at the age of six.  I do not remember how many so called “scholars” stopped by to study us.  I vividly recall the feelings they generated in many of us.  The feelings that we were just animals in a zoo that academe saw as possibly another article or book to be published.  We felt exploited and often would laugh at what we told them because we felt they did not really want to help they just wanted to publish.  Hence, my Dad and the other men would feed them crazy stories.

However, I will always remember my migrant life as a young boy.  The names they yelled at us like taco bender, wetback, etc. or the items they hurled at us like empty beer bottles, tomatoes, etc. However, they did help in motivating me.

Thus, I wanted to study the face of today’s homeless not by stopping and pulling out my Likert scale but by walking a mile in their shoes.  Thus, I took off and headed east to begin my life experience as a homeless person.  Although, unlike a homeless person; I had an old Chevrolet Impala that I was going to drive and sleep in.

The first homeless night was spent in Maryland.  I met up with a group of six young White men. My guess is that they were in their late teens or early 20s.  As we exchanged stories, the first part of building trust is sharing information; I learned they were all from different parts of Maryland and Pennsylvania and all of them had dropped out of school.  Although, after listening, I felt they were pushed out of school.

After gaining their trust, I asked them, “What if God were listening?  What would you ask for?”

“I would ask God to move me to West Virginia!” one quickly responded.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because it is easier to buy a gun there!” he replied. The others joined in and agreed with the young respondent.

We talked until one by one we fell asleep.  I got up early the next morning and continued on my homeless journey.  The next stop was Baltimore, Maryland.  Again, I teamed up with another group of homeless individuals.  This group was older, racially diverse, and included males and females.

Once again, we shared stories. The story that stuck with me from that night was that of a 57 year old former teacher. Hearing the middle age man’s story was moving enough but as he shared it through his tear filled eyes made it that much more difficult to keep my composure as he told his story.

He talked about the numb feeling he got as he read his layoff notice.  He said he told his family not to worry.  He will apply for unemployment and get another job.  The only problem was that no one wanted to hire a 57 year old Black man.  His benefits ran out, he lost his house, and finally, he asked his family to move in with relatives while he traveled looking for another job.  Keeping the fact that he was now homeless a secret from his family, he continues his job search.  Additionally, he shared with me his frustration.  He did what he thought would lead him to a stable career.  He went to college, he became a teacher, and now he is a homeless man full of pain.

Additionally, my homeless walk a mile in my shoes trip led me through Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania.  Each one provided me with difficult life stories.  One that will stay with me for a long time happened in Philadelphia, PA.

I pulled over for a night’s rest in an area of Philadelphia that included a number of homeless sitting around a camp fire.  My body was in extreme pain but I finally fell asleep.  After about an hour of sleep I was awakened by a knock on my window.

A young man said, “Sir, I don’t know if you are from here but I strongly urge you to move from here.  This is a very dangerous spot.  In a couple of hours this place will be filled by thieves, drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes.   It is not safe for you to stay here.”

After we visited, he told me about a 24 hour restaurant that was safe.  I thanked him and moved on.  I found the 24 hour restaurant.  After going in and enjoying a cup of coffee, I slipped a $10 bill for them to let me sleep in their parking lot.

The next morning, I met up with some homeless people and homeless advocates in downtown Philadelphia.  They were upset because the Mayor had issued an order barring Philadelphia churches from setting up outdoor soup kitchens for the homeless because he was concerned about potential health hazards.   The homeless and their advocates complained that the homeless are eating out of trash cans.  They believed the real reason for the outdoor soup kitchen ban was because the Mayor felt the homeless would hurt Philadelphia’s tourism industry.

In conclusion, I learned a lot from the experience.  First, being homeless is a lot of hard work.  Second, the main lesson that I took from my homeless travels was that the homeless also have a lot of pride.  Finally, what if God were listening?  What would you ask for? 

FRIDAY

Kitchen Unit feeds up to or over 200 women and children. This is accomplished by the local Mexican women who volunteer at the center.

The young children have their own dining room, where they are also taught how to use and care of books. Then volunteers collect and return the books to the library after the meal is served.

Expat Volunteers 

The free medical and dental clinic is open at the same time, and the doctors and nurses stay until every patient leaves.  Staff includes two Mexican doctors, one retired expat dentist, and one expat hygienist.

A bazaar is located in the Center which is also open for the volunteer Mexicans to shop with vouchers they receive for volunteering. They do not pay with cash.

SATURDAY

Sports program for the boys. They are picked up from Tepehua and taken to a real sports field to play soccer.

MONDAY

Reading class for adults to improve literacy.

TUESDAY

Counseling for the women; the registration office is also open.

The educational programs at the Center includes teaching mothers how to read, learn English, assist with the school work of the children, and during the holidays, art classes for all. The bazaar is also open so the women can buy at very low prices.

The clinic is open for two hours for women for cancer checks, family planning and other women’s health issues.

WEDNESDAY

English classes are available and the registration office is open.

THURSDAY

There is a clinic for women where one physician sees patients. Sewing and small industry classes are also offered that allow women to produce items spilleautomater elements they may sell. Women are also taught how to market their products. Reading classes are held in the afternoon for adults.

FUTURE PROGRAMS

A major concern is to get children off the drug infested streets into organized games. Many children are involved in street dog/cock fighting , seemingly unaware of the pain they inflict on animals. A playground project is ready to be implemented but the Center lacks the necessary funds to launch it.

A program to teach the women geriatric and home/nursing home care is planned. This would be offered by registered nurses and is planned to begin in 2013. Near Lake Chapala funds are being collected for a large nursing home. Ground breaking in 2013 for the first 300-bed home is now planned. They will need nurses and nursing assistants. The plan is to start at the end of February.

A sponsorship Education program to further the education of children that excel, but cannot afford the expense of staying in school is an additional dream we hope to fulfill soon. We have sponsors and will begin to design the program in 2013.

There are many less formal programs aimed at the very young, like hygiene, the care of books, and art appreciation.

FUTURE VISION

We envision that all the programs will be conducted by local Mexicans themselves, under the supervision of the Board and other main volunteer leaders.  Our hope is to have people who use the Center feel that they belong to the Center. We hope Mexicans will take responsibility and ownership of the Center.  This is happening slowly now. Even some professionals are now Mexican-Doctors, Nurses and others.  This project could be started in any barrio in Jalisco.  When you have a center for the people to socialize and get to know each other, you are creating a support system.  Poverty isolates people from their neighbors. This way, they realize that there is strength when they work together. For any financial information you would like to obtain please contact their Center. ( www.tepehua.org )

The vision is to expand the scope and mission of the farm, e.g., create an Exploratorium for sustainable technology and sustainable agriculture. This summer Dr. Juan Francisco Ornelas , owner and operator, visited the Environmental Education program at the University of North Texas (UNT) to review their program. He also visited the City of Denton’s environmental education program in local schools. They take students to the Elm Fork Green Belt outdoor center and to the Denton waste site that recycles some materials, cleans up waste water and handles city garbage. This site provides electricity for 1600 houses from the methane powering a cap generator at the site.

On our recent visit to meet with Dr. Ornelas at Santa Rosa farm, we learned that he had completed an exhibit hall and a small archeological sand pit for young students to dig up bones of a horse or a camel, for example. He had seen a similar sand pit at the EESAT building at UNT where students from 1st to 5th grade dug up bones.

Initially Ana Paula, the new biologist at the farm and Dr. Ornelas will focus upon moving the farm toward a more organic production and to more sustainable and less carbon-based agriculture model. The next focus will be to create a place to visit alternative green technologies at the farm, so citizens in villages and neighborhoods can learn how to become more sustainable and healthier.. Below is the model of one clean stove from a factory in San Miquel de Allende established by Rotary Club in Oregon.

The team ( from Santa Rosa, SuBire , UNT , FWOP and local green companies) are reviewing the building at the farm to see how energy efficiency strategies might move the farm toward a “ net zero energy” site- so as to demonstrate how it can be done in other locations.

In the exhibit hall we plan to have alternative green technologies, such as clean stove models that burn more efficiently, water purification systems for home use, solar pump systems for drip irrigation systems, and water harvesting systems. Above is a solar panel system that was put into a remote rural school in the State of Zacatecas to operate one computer and provide light in the school.

When completed the farm will have dorms for teachers and rural high school students. The high school students while working on the farm will be able to secure a high school degree.  In addition, students from SuBire and CUM will be visiting the farm;  it is planned that the farm will accommodate visitors from villages and neighborhoods in the region. The Exploratorium  would be a place to experiment with a wide range of technologies to improve the quality of life.

I met the Green Peace Parent Group who are organized to build a link between the families and the school.   Their goal is to design a healthy living community around the school where some 6700 families live.

Two days later I met some 25 second graders, eight parents and a teacher  from CUM at the Santa Rosa Farm near Lake Chapala , south of Guadalajara. The students learned how to plant a garden, milk a cow, and feed various animals.  They all took home a pot with a plant and a seed to germinate.

The farm receives students and parents five days a week from either CUM (www.colegiounionmexico.com or SuBire  ( www.SuBire.mx)  by bus.  The farm is striving to become a major regional environmental and sustainable technology education center in the State of Jalisco.   They travel on the impressive bus pictured below.   Stan.ingman@unt.edu

FWOP Membership

 FWOP membership is free to anyone who believes that every person in the world has the right to have a life without poverty. If you believe that everyone should have the opportunity of adequate food and shelter you should be a member of FWOP.

Membership in FWOP is open to anyone with an e-mail address and it is free.

Our goal is to build an electronic voice of 1,000,000 voices by 2013.

Together in solidarity we will speak out for the rights of the poor and organize chapters around the world to give voice, self-respect and hope to the poorest of the poor.

If you can afford to make a donation of $10 it will help cover the expense of creating this network.

If you can afford a donation of $20 we will give a solar light to a family with no electricity so that a child can use the light at night to read and write to improve their education and job opportunities.  To make a donation, click on the Donate Button on the right sidebar.

Are you a part of those that feel it is time to take a stand against hunger, homelessness and the ravages of modern day poverty? By signing up to join the Global Electronic FWOP Network you are telling the world leaders that we need an end to the suffering caused by the uneven distribution of the global resources.

To join, please enter your email address on the right side of this site or click here.   Thank you!

Help us to build an online store to support jobs to create a future without poverty for families around the world. This is a test page that is under construction and we need your comments on how to improve the store. We also need you to purchase some items to help us test the system. Every item is hand made and 90% of your purchase price is used to buy more items for the store. Please visit the store at:

https://www.futurewithoutpoverty.org/catalog

To share your ideas about the store please go to

https://www.futurewithoutpoverty.org/contact

Summary

Making Jewlery

This project will build a website to create market access for skilled crafters that will support jobs for 100 families (500 people) in poverty. The only solution to reducing poverty is to create jobs.

What is the issue, problem, or challenge?

Poverty can be found in every country and can be a life sentence of hunger, thirst, illness, illiteracy and premature death. Most handouts are only short term band aids to the problem and create a dependency. The only real solution to eliminating poverty is to create jobs that pay a livable wage based on the local economic conditions. Individuals that are very creative and hardworking are only asking for a chance to earn enough money to feed, cloth and house their families.

How will this project solve this problem?

Painting

This project will create a website that provides access to a global market for skilled crafters that tells their story, creates jobs, builds business knowledge, self respect and most importantly provides an opportunity for a future without poverty

Potential Long Term Impact

The “Breaking the Myth Market” will provide jobs to 100 families (impacting 500 individuals) and will successfully break the cycle of poverty in their lives and create a future without poverty for them.

Handicraft

Project Message

FWOP “Breaking the Myth Market” is creating jobs which is the long term and permanent solution to reducing poverty. “With the help of FWOP I am able to feed my family and help others in my town”
– Eduardo (Pato) Ochoa Contreras, Pato is a beneficiary and now a volunteer

Funding Information

To make a donation to help this project go to:

http://www.globalgiving.org

Or send a check to:
FWOP, 8733 Old Dumfries Road
Catlett, VA 20119

Or Donate Via PayPal:

Thank you for visiting our on line store which is creating jobs and an opportunity for a future with out poverty for individuals around the world.   If you would like to review the criteria we use to pick the items or if you know of an item that we should consider please take a look at the basic information on the store items form. We are always looking for individuals that produce unique items that have a limited market and are actively working to reduce their level of poverty. If you would like to nominate an individual please fill out the information on the form and e-mail it to tom@fwop.org

Click Here to See How we Select Items for the Store or to Nominate an Item to be Included in our Store.

FORT WORTH, Texas (March 11, 2011) – Rotary District 5790, representing 65 Rotary Districts throughout North Central Texas, has selected four young professionals to experience the way of life, customs and vocational practices of New Zealand through Rotary International’s prominent Group Study Exchange Program (GSE).

“The purpose of the exchange is to promote international understanding and foster goodwill,” explains Paul Geisel, Chair of the GSE Committee for District 5790. “While abroad, team members will share information about their home country through vocational experiences and presentations for Rotary Clubs and various organizations and businesses in Auckland. The group will also stay in host families’ homes, giving them the opportunity to form close and often lifelong friendships.” A team from the partnering Rotary District 9920 in New Zealand will have similar experiences in North Texas to learn how their professions are carried out in the United States.

Rotary District 5790 Selects Outstanding Young Professionals to Participate in Group Study Exchange Program to New Zealand

The GSE team from North Central Texas will travel across New Zealand for four weeks from mid March to mid April. “I am very excited to be a part of this group,” reports team member Miguel Juanez, Fort Worth resident and President of Student Chapter Coordination for the nonprofit organization A Future Without Poverty, Inc.”This experience with http://www.thefloridamaids.com/ will give me valuable insight how different organizations address the issues of community development and poverty, and in the process make lifelong friends.” Vocational experiences include visits with Price Waterhouse Cooper, The University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute for medical research, and St. John’s Ambulance Headquarters.

Other team members include Jordan Dixon, architectural intern at Secord & Lebow Architects and resident of Wichita Falls; Michael Gallia, a Fort Worth resident and industrial engineer at Lockheed Martin; Miguel A. Juanez, Fort Worth resident and President of Student Chapter Coordination, A Future Without Poverty, Inc.; and Jennifer Jurado Severance, Program Coordinator of a diabetes self-management program with Senior Citizens Services of Greater Tarrant County, Inc and resident of Fort Worth. The team will be led by Rotarian Melanie Hoffman, owner of Brandnu Marketing, LLC and member of Flower Mound Rotary Club. Alvin W. Beynon, retired executive and member of Rotary Club of Weatherford, was selected as the alternate team leader.

The Group Study Exchange program is supported worldwide by Rotary Clubs and Rotary International, and was started in New Zealand. The program’s exchanges help fulfill the mission of Rotary International, an organization of professional and business leaders united worldwide to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and build goodwill and peace in the world. Founded in 1905, Rotary is the world’s first service club. Since 1965, the Rotary International Group Study Exchange has given 7,000 young professionals the opportunity to travel abroad, experience cultures much different from their own, study their vocation in a foreign land, and build lifetime friendships.

This project will build a global online market place that is devoted to creating jobs for 100 families (500 people) in poverty. The only solution to reducing poverty is to create jobs.

What is the issue, problem, or challenge?

Provide Jobs To 100 Families – Breaking The Myth

Poverty can be found in every country and can be a life sentence of hunger, thirst, illness, illiteracy and premature death. Most handouts are only short term band aids to the problem and create a dependency. The only real solution to eliminating poverty is to create jobs that pay a livable wage based on the local economic conditions. Individuals that are very creative and hardworking are only asking for a chance to earn enough money to feed, cloth and house their families.

How will this project solve this problem?

This project will create on online “Breaking the Myth Market” that creates jobs, builds business knowledge, self respect and most importantly provides an opportunity for a future without poverty. This project will provide work for 100 families.

Potential Long Term Impact

The “Breaking the Myth Market” will provide jobs to 100 families (impacting 500 individuals) and will successfully break the cycle of poverty in their lives and create a future without poverty for them.

Project Message

FWOP “Breaking the Myth Market” is creating jobs which is the long term and permanent solution to reducing poverty. “With the help of FWOP I am able to feed my family and help others in my town”
– Eduardo (Pato) Ochoa Contreras, Pato is a beneficiary and now a volunteer

Funding Information

Total Funding Goal: $50,000

To make a donation please click here.