Grateful for Operation Homefront Housing Program That Changed Her Family’s Life, Veteran’s Spouse Keeps Promise to Pay it Forward
When Lissette Caesar clicked “Donate” on the Operation Homefront urgent needs web page, she thought about how life-changing Operation Homefront has been for her and her husband, Deidrick, an Air Force veteran, and their three children.
“Donating was an emotional experience for me because I have so much gratitude toward Operation Homefront,” said Lissette, whose family graduated from the Transitional Homes for Veterans program in 2022.
“It was nice to be able to reciprocate the good karma that came our way and to know I was giving someone the same relief I felt the day we received the call that we were selected for the THV program,” she said. “It’s like a sigh of relief … like an exhale. Being part of Operation Homefront feels like an exhale.”
The Caesars applied for the transitional housing program in 2018, about a year after Deidrick honorably discharged after 15 years of service. His career as an Air Force aerospace medical technician included three deployments to Afghanistan and two to Iraq.
Lissette and Deidrick met through social media while he was deployed to Bagram and became best friends while he was caring for his mother during her treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Sparks ignited when they eventually met up in Texas for 26 hours before he was scheduled to leave for Korea. Their first year of marriage was a continuation of their phone relationship.
The couple and their daughter, Lianna, were stationed in San Antonio, Texas — far from their families — when Deidrick learned his career was ending because of downsizing. Six weeks after receiving the news, he was out.
“It was very defeating,” Lissette remembered. “We had moved from Florida about a year before and had no family here. It was lonely and scary.”
Lissette and Deidrick applied for the THV program the day she learned about it from a newscast. They were expecting their son, DJ, and feeling desperate to find housing because their two-bedroom apartment was too costly and soon would be too small. She knew that being able to live rent-free for two years would allow her family to become better established in the community while they paid down debt, built savings, and increase their credit scores.
THV is one of four unique housing programs Operation Homefront provides to qualifying veteran families as they make the difficult transition from military to civilian life. Families selected for the program receive individualized support from a caseworker and financial counselor to help them meet their goals and prepare for homeownership. Since 2018, 39 families have graduated from the program and saved more than $2 million in housing costs.
“There is nothing better than the feeling of safety. Operation Homefront provided that for us, and everybody deserves to feel this way, especially those who have put their lives on the line.” – Lissette Caesar, Military Spouse and THV Graduate
Lissette said she didn’t anticipate how vastly the program would transform their lives.
“We don’t have family in Texas, and Operation Homefront was like our parents holding our hand through a growing-up process,” she said. “Deidrick left for the military right after high school, and the military doesn’t teach you about good spending habits. Operation Homefront held us accountable, and it created positive changes for both of us.”
They learned budgeting and financial accountability, and they gained confidence to tackle household maintenance and avoid costly service calls.
During their time in the program, the Caesar family met their financial goals despite setbacks such as car repairs, daycare costs, and losing Deidrick’s disability pay. They also weathered the COVID-19 pandemic while living in their THV home. Lissette and Deidrick both earned bachelor’s degrees and launched new careers.
In 2022, Deidrick and Lissette and their children moved into a newly built home they purchased. The transition was seamless because the new home is less than a mile from their THV home. They welcomed daughter Lesedi in 2023, and Lianna, 18, will graduate from high school in May 2025.
“We owe our success to Operation Homefront,” Deidrick said.
Lissette added, “Donors may not realize the magnitude of the effect their donations are having on the families and the world. My children will benefit from the donations they’re making today because setting us up for success trickles down to our children and their children.”
While the family was still in the THV program, Lissette vowed to pay it forward in return for all that Operation Homefront and its generous donors had given her family.
“There is nothing better than the feeling of safety. Operation Homefront provided that for us, and everybody deserves to feel this way, especially those who have put their lives on the line and their families,” Lissette said. “The families make sacrifices, too. Spouses hold down the fort, and they do it selflessly.”
