Army Veteran Grateful to Find Clarity Through Financial Assistance
As the son of a Vietnam veteran, Blaine Higginbotham was interested in the military from the time he was a child.
He heard stories of his father’s service, and he read and reread a book about Special Forces in Vietnam.
“I was just amazed by the stories and what these men accomplished,” he said.
After high school, Blaine explored career options that included cosmetology, construction work, and art school. He worked nights at a music store and big-box retailer.
“I was 20 years old, and … I didn’t really have a plan,” he said.
One morning after a night of “restocking Tickle Me Elmos,” Blaine fell asleep on his motorcycle while at a stop sign on his way home. “I got up, picked the motorcycle up, and I drove to a recruiting center.”
He shipped out for Army Basic Combat Training a month later, in January 1997. He served as a combat medic and later reclassed to serve as an information technology specialist in Special Operations support roles.
He was deployed to Iraq in 2006 and earned an Army Commendation Medal, and Army Superior Unit Award, and a National Defense Service Medal, among others, during his 20 years of service. His military career ended in 2017 with an honorable discharge and medical retirement because of nerve damage, back and neck injuries, and PTSD.
Since his retirement, Blaine has faced ongoing health challenges, and he has struggled to find suitable work in the IT field. During lengthy stints of unemployment, he relied on his military retirement pay and VA disability income. Those did not cover his monthly living expenses, including his high insurance payment because of where he lived, and he faced the possibility of losing the home he purchased in Slidell, Louisiana, after his mother faced a health crisis.
When Blaine reached out to Wounded Warrior Project, they provided resources and connected him with Operation Homefront’s Critical Financial Assistance Program®. The program provides short-term financial relief for military families experiencing financial hardships. It is one of numerous programs that support the nonprofit’s mission of building strong, stable, and secure military and veteran families by improving their financial, emotional, and social well-being.
Since 2011, the Critical Financial Assistance Program® has approved more than 63,000 requests for assistance totaling nearly $50 million.
“The people who donate and provide the support are angels. They do it without knowing who they’re helping, and they do it.” – Blaine Higginbotham, Army veteran
Thanks to Wounded Warrior Project and other Operation Homefront partners, Blaine got the relief he needed at the time.
He was grateful to receive a grant of about $4,000 — paid directly to his lender — to bring his mortgage current and a $500 gift card to purchase food.
“It lifted some stress and anxiety off of me,” he said. “It gave me clarity, and it took a lot of pressure off my back.”
Blaine said that surviving this difficult season of his life has meant being open to asking for help from therapists, veteran service officers, and nonprofits because he has seen what happens to friends who don’t seek help.
“People who donate and provide the support are angels,” he said. “They do it without knowing who they’re helping. They’re giving the opportunity for a veteran or service member to move on, to have that ability to see the next step.”
