By Dave Jolivet, Editor
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The “Pledge of Allegiance” concludes with the statement that America is a land “with liberty and justice for all.”
That theory, however, is tested by a disturbing statistic. According to Dan LaBlanc, USMC retired, the Veterans Service Officer for the City of New Bedford, most homeless in the Whaling City are veterans. That hardly seems like the justice referred to in “The Pledge.”
Yet, there is a group of veterans that is doing something about that. For the past nine years members of Welcome Home Veterans Housing, Inc. have been doggedly pursuing affordable, safe and permanent housing for veterans in New Bedford.
Led by Vietnam veteran, and former first lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps, Kathleen M. Splinter, a parishioner of Notre Dame Parish in Fall River, the Welcome Home group has secured an out-of-service sweater mill at 280 North Street that will be transformed into 19 apartments for U.S. veterans in need. Splinter is president of Welcome Home. The housing unit will be named the Sean Brooke House, after an Army combat medic who was killed by a drunk driver on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii in 2005, while returning to his base following a charity function.
Brooke served a 14-month tour of duty in Iraq shortly before his death, where he treated U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. At a ground-breaking ceremony at the North Street site last week, Splinter said she could relate to Brooke since they both served wounded soldiers in combat. “I got to know Sean and felt a camaraderie with him and his work,” she said. “Those who knew him prayed for his safe return from Iraq, and cheered when he made it back in one piece.”
Then tragedy struck. “He was like a son to many of us,” she added, “our hearts go out to the Brooke Family and we’re proud to name this unit after him.”
Brooke’s father Darren, his mother Laurie, his sister Christine, and brother Parker, were in attendance at the ceremony, traveling from their home in Detroit Lakes, Minn. Splinter later told The Anchor that the Welcome Home group began corresponding with Brooke shortly after the Iraqi war began and they periodically sent his unit care packages.
“Many of us were medics and the letters Sean sent to us could have been written by us at one time or another, and probably were,” she said. “He was a field medic, and they are a gift to the units they serve. Not only do they tend the soldiers’ physical injuries, but they follow up and make sure they are cared for emotionally after their battle experiences. And it’s not only soldiers. They cared for civilians and POWs as well.”
Splinter also said Brooke was more concerned about the welfare of his peers and not for his own well-being. “He poured out his feelings in letters to us, because he couldn’t over there.”
“We must take care of our veterans, especially those in need,” said Splinter who was awarded the Bronze Star in 1969 for outstanding service to her patients. She said the nine year process to get the housing project off the ground was like, “a ride on the old roller coaster at Lincoln Park in Westport. It was full of twists and turns, where sometimes you were screaming for the ride to end. It felt like you wouldn’t survive, but we did. All involved are filled with gratitude and hope that we will offer 19 veterans safe, affordable and permanent housing.”
Father Robert A. Oliveira, pastor of Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in New Bedford, and an honorary member of Welcome Home Veterans Housing also spoke at the ceremony. “I knew Kathy Walsh for 50 years, and when she married and her name became Splinter, I thought it was appropriate,” he said. “A splinter can be a persistent annoyance, and that’s what Kathy is like when she has a goal in mind. It was her persistence that paid off in helping to get this done. And that’s a good annoyance.” At the closing Benediction, Father Oliveira said, “Benediction means saying good things, and we’re here to say good things about people and to hope for good things for people. Let us speak well of others and hope well for others. May the veterans who inhabit this house be blessed with hope as they share their life stories with one another.”
Nelson Ostiguy, USMC retired, of the New Bedford Mayor’s office said that Splinter, who was named Outstanding Woman Veteran of the Year in Massachusetts last year, “saw the worst of the worst in her duties as an Army nurse in Vietnam.” He added she could have come home and felt she did her duty, but “she wanted to do something to help other veterans. There were a few snags in the process that could have strayed her from the course, but she and her committee were committed to getting this done.”
Splinter added, “I’m only the mouthpiece for Welcome Home Veterans Housing. The whole committee has worked tirelessly to get this accomplished. And we’ve had fun doing it.”
Also present at the event was the Riley Family, who made the North Street property available; Richard, USN retired; his wife Rosemary, who volunteers at Holy Family-Holy Name School in New Bedford; and their seven children. The hope is to have the Sean Brooke House ready for residents to move in by next summer.
“All of the residents will meet requirements,” Splinter told The Anchor. “They will be CORI’d and they must meet financial requirements of the Housing Authority and HUD guidelines. Partnering in the financial and construction support for the project is the City of New Bedford, Citizens Bank, Mass. Technology Council, Federal Home Loan Bank Boston, the Mass. Dept. of Housing & Community Development, Mass. Affordable Housing Trust, Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, Charlesbank Homes, MassHousing CCRI Foundation, Caritas Communities, South Shore Housing Development Corporation, Durkee Brown Viveiros Werenfels, Bufftree Building Co., and Welcome Home Veterans Housing, Inc.
For those who would like to help in this nearly $5M project, donations can be sent to Welcome Home Veterans Housing, Inc., 280 North Street, New Bedford, MA, 02740.