Veterans Helping Hands Project gets adjustment

A Vietnam Veteran himself, Gates decided to take on the project, which gives veterans skills, potentially a job, and gets them back into society.

Dave Gates, Exec. Dir. of Veterans Helping Hands Project, says, “Get them the skills so when they come out of the program and they are doing, they get a job- give them a mission, they lost it when they got back, they lost that mission, they lost that focus, they got a focus every day.”

Gates enlisted help from the community, and the building project began falling into place, until the pandemic hit and derailed the progress, including lost donations.

But the silver lining is – the set back bought them more time and opportunities – they were able to change the housing deigns to include small houses and planning a potential building project in Hot Springs.

Gates says, “That is the one good thing that has come out of it I guess, is now we have a lot more designs to work with and our cost is lower.”

The initial plan was set almost a year ago and now has given possibility to expand nationwide.

“The plan is, is to make this the center – perfect the process here and then move it to other areas that need help throughout the United States, ” says Gates.

The organization is looking for more volunteers and community involvement. Click here for the website.