(11 Nov 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Atlanta – 31 October 2023
1. ZOOM OUT of exterior of Veterans Empowerment Organization apartments
HEADLINE TEXT: Atlanta nonprofit expands, houses more veterans
ANNOTATION: The Veterans Empowerment Organization (VEO) began housing homeless veterans in a single two-bedroom house in 2008.
2. Tight of floor plan for veteran’s campus renovation
ANNOTATION: Today, the organization houses veterans and their families across five buildings and construction will soon begin on a new one.
3. PAN of bedroom doors in hallway
++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY COVERED++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Kimbrough, CEO, Veterans Empowerment Organization:
“Landlords probably won’t be as generous as we are, so if they miss their rent, we can go out and help find resources through our network and through our case management, whereas they’re starting that eviction process. They’ll say ‘hey-‘ they don’t really care. They have to pay their bills.”
5. Wide of living room
ANNOTATION: Facilities offer lessons on financial literacy and securing benefits with an end goal of housing independence.
6. Wide of Army medallion
ANNOTATION: The Home Depot Foundation has helped make expansion possible through more than $2 million in donations since 2011.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Shannon Gerber, Executive Director, Home Depot Foundation:
“Housing is very important, but without the wraparound services, it, it’s not enough for our veterans to be fully back into the workforce and back into civilian life.”
8. Tight of Army medallion
ANNOTATION: More than 33,000 veterans were homeless in 2022.
9. Tight of marked area on floor in new apartment unit
ANNOTATION: The number has fallen 11% since January 2020.
10. Wide of construction in new apartment unit
ANNOTATION: Officials say securing shelter for people and improved partnership between agencies, nonprofits and corporate foundations has helped.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Kimbrough, CEO, Veterans Empowerment Organization:
“When we create this environment for them, it creates this environment where they can trust us. So if they were to leave, they can pick up the phone and call us back and say ‘Hey, I lost my house,’ or ‘Hey I lost my job.’ There’s no judgement in that.”
12. Various exteriors of apartments
ANNOTATION: The foundation said it’s invested $500 million in veterans causes since 2011.
ANNOTATION: It announced a commitment to giving another $250 million by 2030.
STORYLINE:
Along a busy Atlanta residential road, a nonprofit that started in 2008 with a single two-bedroom house has expanded into a campus dedicated to both transitional and permanent housing for dozens of previously homeless veterans.
There are classrooms for veterans to learn about financial literacy, securing benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and getting on a path toward employment and housing independence. There's a common area for reading and a gym for working out.
The organization houses veterans and their families across five buildings. And a huge patch of dirt marks where a two-story structure is to be built with 20 single-occupancy bedrooms.
“Landlords probably won’t be as generous as we are,” Tony Kimbrough, CEO of the Veterans Empowerment Organization said.
It's a time of huge growth for VEO, one that Kimbrough said would not be possible without The Home Depot Foundation. The Atlanta-based group has given the nonprofit more than $2.3 million since 2011.
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