Our Heroes Already Paid the Price. They Should Not Have to Fight the Next Battle Alone.
Project HERO helps Veterans and military families navigate housing instability, benefits resources, transportation, employment, disability-related barriers, family stress, and the difficult transition from crisis toward stability.
We start with the Veteran in front of us—not a case number, rank, era, diagnosis, or paperwork stack. We listen, identify the immediate problem, connect the right resources, and stay engaged through the next responsible step.
A Front Door for Veterans Who Do Not Know Which Door to Knock On.
Veterans can face multiple problems at once: homelessness, disability, lost documents, transportation barriers, unemployment, family stress, PTSD, chronic pain, financial instability, or difficulty understanding which program is supposed to help.
Project HERO is Heaven-Sent's Veteran-focused assistance program. It is designed to help Veterans and their families identify the right next step, connect with appropriate VA and community resources, organize the process, and reduce the chance that someone gives up simply because the system became too complicated.
Faith and pastoral support are available to people who want them, but participation in other Project HERO services is not conditioned on religious belief or activity.
You do not have to know exactly what to ask for.
If all you can say is, “I need help figuring this out,” that is enough to begin.
Start with the problem in front of you. Then build the mission from there.
Stabilize. Rebuild. Reconnect.
Stabilize the Crisis
- Housing and shelter navigation
- Food, clothing, and basic-needs connection
- Transportation and appointment barriers
- Warm handoffs to crisis or clinical resources when appropriate
- Financial-resource and benefits referrals
Rebuild the Mission
- Employment readiness and workforce connection
- Document organization and resource navigation
- Vehicle and transportation support pathways
- Training and Safe Harbor Workforce Academy pathways as developed
- Housing stability planning
Reconnect the Person
- Peer and community connection
- Family and caregiver support
- Optional pastoral care
- Purpose-driven volunteer and service opportunities
- Long-term community reintegration
Every Branch. Every Era. Every Story Deserves to Be Heard.
Veterans Facing Housing Instability
Veterans living outside, in vehicles, motels, temporary arrangements, or at immediate risk of losing housing.
Veterans With Disabilities
Veterans living with physical disabilities, PTSD, TBI, chronic pain, sensory loss, or other service- or non-service-related conditions.
Guard & Reserve
Current or former Guard and Reserve members who may struggle to identify which Veteran, military, or community systems apply to them.
Women Veterans
Dignity-centered support and connection with appropriate Veteran, housing, health, safety, and community resources.
Spouses & Caregivers
Support for the people carrying the daily weight of disability, housing instability, benefits navigation, appointments, and family stress.
Surviving Families
Resource navigation and compassionate support for families trying to understand benefits, housing, grief resources, and next steps after loss.
You Do Not Need a Perfect File Before You Call.
Reach Out
Call, email, or use the contact section below. Tell us what is happening right now.
Map the Problem
We identify housing, benefits, transportation, documents, employment, safety, and other barriers.
Connect Resources
We help identify the appropriate VA, housing, workforce, disability, community, or partner resources.
Follow Through
Where our role allows, we help organize next steps and follow up so the Veteran is not simply handed another phone number.
Clear Help Without Pretending to Be Something We Are Not.
Project HERO can help Veterans organize records, understand available resources, identify questions to ask, and connect with qualified Veteran-service resources.
For formal VA claims representation, appeals, or representation before VA, Veterans should use a properly VA-accredited representative when required.
What Project HERO Can Help With
- Organizing DD-214s, decisions, letters, and supporting records
- Explaining common VA and community resource pathways in plain language
- Connecting Veterans with accredited Veterans Service Organizations or representatives where appropriate
- Linking benefits/resource work with housing, transportation, employment, and family stability
- Helping Veterans prepare questions and next-step checklists
No exaggeration. No invented diagnoses. No predatory percentage fees.
When One Veteran Is in Crisis, the Whole Home Can Feel It.
Spouses, children, parents, and caregivers often carry transportation, appointments, finances, household responsibilities, and the emotional weight of watching someone they love struggle.
- Caregiver and family resource navigation
- Peer and community connection
- Respite-resource planning
- Housing and transportation support pathways
- Optional faith and pastoral support
Project HERO Is Not an Emergency Dispatch or Clinical Service
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. Veterans in emotional crisis can also contact the Veterans Crisis Line by calling 988 and pressing 1, or by texting 838255.
Heaven-Sent can support follow-up, resource navigation, family connection, and practical needs around a crisis, but does not replace emergency, medical, psychiatric, or licensed behavioral-health care.
The Front Door Today. A Larger Pathway Tomorrow.
Project HERO Today
- Veteran resource navigation
- Housing and homelessness referrals
- Client casework and follow-up
- Transportation support where available
- Food and basic-needs support
- Employment and training referrals
- Peer, family, and optional pastoral support
Planned Safe Harbor Expansion
- Veteran and accessible housing components
- Safe Harbor Workforce Academy
- Classrooms and hands-on training areas
- Food, shower, laundry, and basic-needs infrastructure
- Transportation and mobility resources
- Disaster-response training and service
- Longer-term stability pathways
One Mission. Different Strengths.
Joseph “Joe” Ryan
Coordinates Project HERO, difficult casework, partnerships, housing/resource navigation, and organization-wide follow-through.
Tim Lehman
Supports disaster operations, field coordination, housing-related problem solving, and practical response work.
Darrell Whited
Supports Veteran resource navigation, benefits-related organization, peer guidance, and coordination with appropriate Veteran resources.
Teresa Whited
Provides voluntary faith-based encouragement and pastoral support to Veterans, spouses, caregivers, and families who request it.
Veterans Need a Network, Not Another Silo.
Veteran Organizations
Coordinate referrals, peer connection, benefits-resource navigation, outreach, and community support.
Employers & Training Providers
Create direct pathways into employment, apprenticeships, certifications, and workforce development.
Housing & Service Providers
Help shorten the distance between a Veteran in crisis and the right housing, transportation, or supportive service.
Businesses & Donors
Support transportation, food, training, equipment, housing development, emergency needs, and Project HERO growth.
Start With Joe. We Will Help Identify the Next Step.
You do not have to repeat your entire life story before you know whether we can help. Start with what is happening today.
Availability of direct financial, housing, transportation, or other assistance depends on eligibility, funding, geography, partner capacity, and program requirements.
Joseph “Joe” Ryan
Founder & Executive Director
(407) 279-0520
(717) 623-0164
joepres@heaven-sent-veterans-outreach.org
This form opens your email program; it is not a secure medical or benefits-document upload portal. Do not send Social Security numbers, medical records, passwords, or other highly sensitive information through ordinary email.
Serving the Person Who Served — With Dignity, Persistence, and a Real Next Step.
A Veteran may need housing today, transportation tomorrow, employment next month, or simply someone willing to make the next phone call with them. Project HERO exists to help connect those pieces.
