Habitat For Heroes

If you've been following us for awhile, you know how much we appreciate American Heroes... people like Brad Snyder (US Navy), Randy Regan (NYFD), Kevin Killian (SoCal Police), Melissa Stockwell (US Army), Rob Jones (US Marines) and many more!!

US Military Veterans are American Heroes who make tremendous sacrifices and take on extraordinary risks for the benefit of the American public.  It only makes sense that when their service is complete, these Military Veterans should have a place to call home.

And apparently, the SCV Habitat For Heroes agrees!

Habitat For Heroes is a non-profit organization in the city of Santa Clarita (in north Los Angeles County).  Their goal is to "address the needs of those heroes who have served our nation, and all of us, with courage and honor."  The Habitat For Heroes does this specifically in the area of housing.

According to the Habitat For Heroes, roughly 80,000 US Military Veterans who served after 9/11 are spending more than 50% of their income on housing.  This situation, along with a challenging economy, has created financial hardship for many veterans, especially in the city of Santa Clarita.  Per capita, Santa Clarita has one of highest concentrations of Military Veterans.  Of the city's 250,000 residents, over 10,000 are war veterans.

So Habitat For Heroes recently announced an exciting project, in coordination with the California Department of Veteran Affairs (CalVet).

CalVet will provide $21 million for Habitat For Heroes to develop and build 87 new homes in a village dedicated to veterans.  Local veterans will then be able to apply to purchase one of these affordable homes!

This is a terrific program.  And ought to be a model for other communities to follow!

Veterans Day is coming up... on Nov 11th.  For the independence and freedom we all enjoy, our US Military Veterans deserve to be remembered and honored!!

Check out this AWESOME video about the program...

Hero In Action - Randy Regan

We have featured quite a few American Heroes.  Some who perform on big stages, such as Brad Snyder in the 2012 Paralympics or Vincent Hancock in the 2012 Olympics.  Others who serve in relative anonymity, such as Kevin Killian or the Santa Barbara County Fire Dept.

Here's a story of another gentleman who faithfully goes about his daily work in loyal service to his community.

Randy Regan is a Firefighter and 20-year veteran of the NYFD, Ladder 20.

He says, "I've lived in New York my whole life and you see a lot of strange things."  So when he saw a woman floating on a log in the Hudson River earlier this year (March 2012), he simply knew she needed to be rescued.

He was riding his bike through NYC at 7:30am, headed to work.  He knew the water would be cold if he jumped in to help the woman.  In fact, the water was 48 degrees!

But he took the dive, swam out 40 feet, and brought the woman to shore.  She surely would have been in serious trouble without Randy's rescue effort.  He asked two other women to call 911.  When the Police and EMS arrived he continued on to work.

Remarkably, Randy still arrived for his 9:00am shift a few minutes early!

See Randy's full story on the NYC website.

He's a humble man who plays off the event as just being part of his job.  But this is a great example of how American Heroism preserves and protects our quality of life!

Thanks for your service Randy!!

Check out this video of Randy talking about what happened...

9/11 The Miracle of Stairwell B

At the NFPA Conference this year (retired) NYFD captain Jay Jonas delivered the feature presentation.  It was his story of surviving the collapse of the North Tower of the World Trade Center with his company of Ladder 6 and a few others.

It is a stunning story of bravery and heroism, and more than worth your viewing.  These are links to the six YouTube videos which collectively re-tell the story:

• 9/11 The Miracle of Stairwell B Part 1
• 9/11 The Miracle of Stairwell B Part 2
• 9/11 The Miracle of Stairwell B Part 3
• 9/11 The Miracle of Stairwell B Part 4
• 9/11 The Miracle of Stairwell B Part 5
• 9/11 The Miracle of Stairwell B Part 6