Permanent House Helped Army Veteran ‘Level Up’ in Life
Looking back, Jonah Flores says, enlisting in the Army was the smartest thing he could have done for his 18-year-old self.
Jonah’s father served in the military during the Vietnam War but didn’t talk about the experience. The signing bonus lured Jonah to sign up in 1997. “I had just turned 18, and I had learned my girlfriend was pregnant.”
During his 12 years of military service, Jonah worked in field artillery and earned the rank of staff sergeant. He was deployed to Qatar in 1998 with the 82nd Airborne Division. In 2005, he went to Kuwait for 18 months in back-to-back deployments. Jonah lives with PTSD.
Jonah is the single father of five children, who range in age from 7 to 22. He struggled financially and physically after separating from the military. Today, he says with pride that he is seven years sober, and in fall 2021 he became a homeowner.
Jonah lives with his 7-year-old son, 10-year-old daughter, and one of his adult children in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He achieved the once-distant dream of homeownership through Operation Homefront’s Permanent Homes for Veterans (PHV) program.
Since 2012, more than 650 families have graduated from the program, representing more than $98 million in deeded home equity. It’s part of the nonprofit organization’s mission of building strong, stable, and secure military families so they can thrive—not simply struggle to get by—in the communities that they’ve worked so hard to protect. One part of that mission focuses on homes for veterans.
For the Flores family, the home program was a turning point.
“This program has helped me level up in life,” Jonah said.
Moving into the house gave the children a safe neighborhood where they can play outside and put them in the best elementary school in Fort Smith. Jonah is almost debt free, and the financial counseling and savings required in the program helped him increase his credit score.
“This journey has been a blessing for me and my family,” he said. “It’s very comforting to know I have a place to call home and a house my kids will get to grow up in.”
