Meeting VOA Michigan board members

The past several days, we have profiled veterans who have turned their struggle into success as part of our Make Camo Your Cause series. Now it's time to put the spotlight on the veterans who are paying it forward as VOA Michigan board members. Fox 2's Brandon Hudson explains. They serve the country. Some did not come back. Others did. Others came back in conditions where you, in the city of Detroit, you will see them on the streets, sometimes on manhole covers. I think one of the biggest challenges that we have is to get a veteran to say, I want to help myself and take that last step forward. ...to the Volunteers of America Michigan. Everyone is tied to a veteran and understands their story, their sacrifice, their commitment. Did I hear you correctly when you said you've been a board member since 2003? So you're kind of OG here, right? Yeah. What got you, or what was the call for you to come serve? The ability to assist with my knowledge and helping people because they were servicing veterans as well as housing for the seniors and for families, it was important for me to contribute back to the community. It's been my honor and pleasure. To be on the board of the Volunteers of America Michigan, it's been so rewarding. I am a veteran, and that was the reason it attracted me, because of the focus on veterans. Did you think on the last day you took your uniform off that you'd find another way to serve in a different capacity? With the same purpose. I didn't. Not in my experience. But I'm glad that I have this chance now. I've met so many veterans who have just been thankful for the programs at VOA Michigan. But when you hear a veteran say thank you to you, what does that mean? That means a lot, and I always say thank you to the veterans, because as I said earlier, veterans are very special people. It means thank you for your service, because everyone had a part to play, and everyone has different backgrounds, but they bring that to the table, and like Chip said, teamwork makes the dream work. It's humbling, because... One of the reasons why is that I get so much out of this, just being able to be engaged with VOA Michigan, and it's just a part of who we are, I think, as veterans, as Chip mentioned.