Sandra Stillman was unemployed and facing eviction last fall.
Unsure of where to turn, a friend told her about an organization that aims to help women like her, an Army veteran and divorced mother of two.
Two days before Thanksgiving, Stillman avoided homelessness by moving into a large house in Fairfax, now shared with four other female veterans, that is run by the nonprofit Final Salute.
“I don’t look at this as a shelter. I look at it as a starting-over situation,” said Stillman, who said she and her children also spent some time in a domestic violence shelter. “I can focus on doing what is necessary to get back on my feet.”
She just started a full-time job; Final Salute will allow her to stay at the home for as long as two years, if she still needs the support.
Final Salute founder and Army Capt. Jasmine Boothe of Haymarket can relate to the experiences of the women she is trying to help.
In 2005, as an Army reservist in New Orleans about to be deployed to Iraq, she got a double whammy from Hurricane Katrina in August, which claimed all her belongings, and a cancer diagnosis in September. At the time, she also was a single mother. She was not happy with the resources available to her as a female veteran.
“As a soldier, part of our warrior ethos is to never leave a fellow comrade behind,” she said. “No one is really looking out for women veterans.”
The biggest obstacle facing the thousands of homeless female veterans, as compared to male veterans, is most of the housing programs established for veterans do not allow children, according to a December report by the Government Accountability Office.
Once Boothe had stabilized her own life, ending up with a position at the National Guard Bureau in Arlington County and living in Northern Virginia, she began working to establish an organization that would help other female veterans in need. She launched Final Salute in 2010.
The goal is to give women and their children a safe place to stay and get back on their feet.
“Once you’re able to take housing out of the area of worry, they’re able to focus on their careers or school,” Boothe said. “They’re able to get back to being the strong performers that they are.”
Final Salute provides some services through its volunteer supporters and its one employee and helps connect clients with programs offered by the Veterans Administration and other agencies.
Ozora, an active member of the National Guard who asked that her full name not be used, said she has struggled to strike out on her own since separating from her husband. Final Salute is “a blessing,” she said.
When she worried about where to sleep each night, she had trouble focusing on school. She is working on a degree in mental health. She moved into the Final Salute house in March. “Here,” she said, “I’m more comfortable and relaxed.”
Final Salute operates the house in Fairfax, and Boothe has plans to expand the services to more houses and more cities over time. As a relatively new nonprofit organization, fundraising remains a barrier to expansion for the time being.
It costs about $65,000 per year to operate the house in Fairfax, Boothe said, including rent and food for the women who live there. Some of the food, furniture and other necessities is donated and some is purchased by Final Salute.
There are about 20 women on the waiting list for housing at the current facility, Boothe said.
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