Veteran Helps Others "Live United"

 

By Steve White, Grand Island Bureau ChiefCONNECT

 

Raising $1.5 million in a community that's seen new jobs and layoffs, the Heartland United Way celebrates a strong year. With those dollars, they're helping families, even veterans of recent wars.

"I showed up here homeless, broken, separated from a spouse," Ryan Kaufman told United Way supporters.

With 200,000 miles on an old Ford pickup and nothing else, Kaufman was running out of options. 

A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was on his own - no barracks, no dining hall, and no support system. 

But as he spoke at the Heartland United Way annual meeting, he says he found a community willing to help. And now he's giving back.

He said, "The community put my life back together, wife and I reconciled, recently had a baby, enrolled in school."

Now he works for Lutheran Family Services, with a project known as At Ease, asking veterans how they're doing. 

He asks the same questions a social worker asked him when he arrived in Grand Island.

"How's life? Not good. How's your wife? Not good. How's the job? Not good. So what are you going to do about it? I don't know. Let's figure it out," he said is the usual dialogue.

If they've been in the military their entire adult life, Ryan said they may not know about signing a lease, how to understand interest rates, or even how to use a stove. But he wants them to know help is available, and he's willing to go to the grocery store or to their home to provide services.

Lutheran Family Services is one of 16 agencies supported by the Heartland United Way, which raised $1,523,486 in a difficult economic year.

Outgoing United Way board chair Mark Allen said, "We need it, they dig down deep they provide support we need here locally."

Allen said the community came through, and the United Way's goal is to make sure every dollar counts. 

"We hold them accountable. It's a very rigorous process their agencies go through to apply for funds and receive funds," he said.

Some of those programs support Ryan's program, and he says he's grateful for it. 

"To everyone who donates to the United Way, thank you," he said.

The United Way moved to a new office in Grand Island in 2014. They honored businessman Ernie Thayer for making that happen, and awarded the "Be the One" award to former Skagway vice president Jim Phipps for staying active in many volunteer efforts in his retirement.