{"id":660,"date":"2019-03-22T12:37:17","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T12:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2019\/03\/22\/2019321heart-911-helps-a-local-veteran-renovate-her-hamden-home\/"},"modified":"2020-09-05T19:35:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:35:01","slug":"2019321heart-911-helps-a-local-veteran-renovate-her-hamden-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2019\/03\/22\/2019321heart-911-helps-a-local-veteran-renovate-her-hamden-home\/","title":{"rendered":"HEART 9\/11 helps a local veteran renovate her Hamden home"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Hannah Feakes<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Photo via Ryan Dostie<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

HEART 9\/11, an organization that rebuilds infrastructure in hard-hit areas, chose a local Hamden family to help out. <\/p>\n

Ryan Dostie and her husband both served overseas in the National Guard, and due to PTSD and financial struggles, could no longer afford to maintain their starter home. <\/p>\n

That is when HEART 9\/11 stepped in.<\/p>\n

According to its website<\/span><\/a>, HEART 9\/11 is an organization that strives to respond to natural and man-made disasters, rebuild infrastructure in hard-hit areas and build resiliency for individuals, families and communities.<\/p>\n

The renovation on the Dosties home started Friday, March 8. The family had to move out of the home and into Dostie\u2019s mother\u2019s home. <\/p>\n

The trouble started when Dostie came home after serving for five years, she and her husband bought a small starter home in Hamden. <\/p>\n

What they thought would be a starter home turned into their family home, and the family is still living there with their young daughter. <\/p>\n

Dostie said that when she returned from serving, she had symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression. Her doctor recommended that she stay home from work and focus on her mental health. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ended up giving me 70 percent disability for my PTSD alone,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce we had our daughter in 2015, it didn\u2019t make sense to work part-time, because we\u2019d just be paying for daycare. So everything financial fell on my husband, and that was really hard for him and for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the financial pressure forced the family to postpone maintenance on the home.<\/p>\n

Dostie said that the roof needed to be redone, the water heater had broken recently and there was an inch of water accumulating in their basement. <\/p>\n

They needed help.<\/p>\n

Erik Trinidad, who works with the VA, contacted Dostie and suggested that the family put their name in for a grant that provides cash to help veterans in need complete home renovations.<\/p>\n

Laurie Harkness is the founder and former director of VA Connecticut\u2019s Errera Community Care Center. She has been in contact with Dostie throughout the entire process.<\/p>\n

Dostie said that Harkness understands how to work with veterans and understands veterans who are trying to overcome part of their trauma. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s very kind,\u201d Dostie said. \u201cShe\u2019s the one who calmed me down and said \u2018You deserve this, we want to do this, you should accept this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Dostie, she met Harkness when she found out their family was going to receive the grant.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Trinidad) comes back to me and says \u2018I think you\u2019re gonna get the grant,\u2019\u201d Dostie said. \u201cThey want to come in and meet you.\u2019 So I went and I met Laurie. It went from getting our roof fixed to these huge massive renovations that they\u2019re doing now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dostie never thought that the renovation would be as big as it has become. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think if I had known it was gonna be this big, I probably never would have applied,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I think there are probably more deserving veterans out there. I said to them \u2018Are you sure there\u2019s not someone else?\u2019 but they wanted to do it for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the New Haven Register<\/span><\/a>, Harkness was struck by the fact that Dostie did not feel deserving. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat struck me was (Ryan Dostie) felt like she wasn\u2019t deserving and most people who struggle with trauma feel that way,\u201d Harkness said. \u201cEven after fighting for her country taking bullets, she comes back carrying the invisible wounds and still doesn\u2019t feel like she deserves anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moving from my house to my mother\u2019s house, getting stuff out and moving it into a new environment had put me in a tailspin of anxiety and depression,\u201d Dostie said. \u201cI joked I was like a cat, you can\u2019t move me without me freaking out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dostie said that although she is not exactly sure what will be done to the house, she knows they will be getting a lot more space and the mortgage will remain affordable for them.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt will be nice to have a house that we can maybe have more children in and stay in our neighborhood and have more stability,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Not only does this organization help people in need, but the volunteers who work on the house say that it benefits them as well.<\/p>\n

Dostie said that the thing that keeps her from backing out of the project is that she knows it helps the volunteers work through their own PTSD as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe HEART 9\/11 people have emphasized for them that it\u2019s therapeutic,\u201d she said. \u201c It\u2019s helpful for them to give back now, and that helps them with their PTSD process. So to know that they\u2019re getting something out of this, and it\u2019s not just about me, that it\u2019s for them I guess lets me accept all that they\u2019re giving to us \u2013 which is a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dostie also said that the volunteers and construction workers have never made her feel undeserving. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just can\u2019t get over how kind everyone has been,\u201d she said. \u201cNever once have I felt like I\u2019m a burden or that what they\u2019re doing is too much. I never feel looked down on in any way. I\u2019ve never felt like they pity me either. They treat me with kindness and respect and like an equal, which is really cool considering what they\u2019re doing and what they\u2019ve been through, which is considerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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