Veteran Mom Eager for New Start at Operation Homefront Apartment
Veatrice Laranjo joined the Army in 2019 because her mom had been diagnosed with cancer and she wanted to get her healthcare and help her financially.
She served for four years and was medically retired in late 2023 because she has scoliosis.
“They told me I should not have even been accepted into the Army,” she said. “Now, my scoliosis is even worse.”
She also lives with PTSD and anxiety. Her health issues, combined with leaving the military earlier than she expected, left Veatrice worried about her future and how she would provide for her 2-year-old daughter, Kay’lani, following a divorce from Kay’lani’s father.
She was unsure of her next steps, but she knew she would live in San Antonio, Texas, where she was born and raised. She was talking to another veteran who told her about Operation Homefront and the nonprofit’s transitional housing programs.
“He said Operation Homefront had really helped him a lot,” she said.
“I was so grateful and happy I have a roof over my head. I have something stable for me and my daughter.” – Veatrice Laranjo, Army veteran
She learned about the Transitional Housing – Apartments program, which launched in 2021 and is the newest of Operation Homefront’s four distinct programs to assist military families transitioning to civilian life.
Through the program, honorably discharged veterans within four years of service live for one year in an apartment. The families pay no rent or utilities, and they participate in financial counseling and career education to help achieve stability and chart a path to long-term post-military success.
Veatrice moved into her San Antonio apartment in May. Thanks to the generosity of the Boot Campaign, she received a new bed for Kay’lani to replace one movers broke in a previous move.
“She’s about to be 3 and (Operation Homefront) got her a twin bed, the mattress and sheets,” Veatrice said. “I really was not expecting all of that. I was really grateful.”
Veatrice has enjoyed the neighborhood where the apartment is located. She is currently working as a server at a restaurant and is going to school. She is studying radiation therapy and hopes to continue her schooling to become a medical dosimetrist, one who calculates doses of radiation and designs and oversees treatment plans for patients with cancer and other serious diseases.
Having stable housing has helped in her schooling.
“Everything Operation Homefront has done has affected me tremendously in a positive way,” Veatrice said. “I am so grateful and happy I have a roof over my head. I have something stable for me and my daughter.
