SOME OF OUR SUCCESS STORIES
Maria Midcap was a young Spanish girl living in Zaragoza, Spain, when she met her future husband, an American airman, in 1969. “It was love at the first sight,” she said. The two were stationed all over the world, and were blessed with three daughters and one son. And then, after 34 years of marriage, tragedy struck. Her 24-year-old son was home for a visit. He and his father were at their house in Dover, Del.; when a freak gas explosion claimed both their lives and reduced their home to rubble. She was left with nothing. “My heart was broken. I was dead, too,” she said. Maria didn’t know where she would go or what she would do. But then she read an article about the Air Force Enlisted Village. She called and the staff arranged accommodations for her. She packed her bags, and arrived at the Village, sight unseen, June 1, 2005. “I was really frightened,” she said. “But I’m glad I did. The people here have helped me a lot. I love it here. Everything is taken care of for you."
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan in 2004, one Air Force widow was left homeless. Betty McCutcheon lost her Palm Bay, Fla., home and all of her belongings in a house fire.
She had read about the Air Force Enlisted Village previously, and she already had an application on file. After the fire in mid-September, her daughter made an urgent call to the admissions department.
Betty was in an apartment in Bob Hope Village within two weeks. Staff gathered items such as dishes and furniture – much of it donated by other residents – to furnish the apartment until Betty was able to purchase her own.
“I expected there to be only mattresses on the floor,” said Betty, “but the apartment was completely furnished.”
“We welcomed the opportunity to help Betty,” said Opal Tibbitts, Director of Admissions. “In this case, she happened to be on our waiting list. However, because she qualified for residency here and was in an emergency situation, we could have placed her in an apartment quickly even if she hadn’t been on the list.”
An unexpected downturn in fortune caught Cricket Hurley off-guard. Cricket was a contractor working at the local military base, when her contract wasn’t renewed. She was renting a room in a large house, and the owner of the house decided to sell. In a short time, she was left with no job and no place to live. Her two sons were in the military, and were about to deploy for Operation Desert Storm. “I didn’t want them to worry about me, when they were about to leave.” Cricket called the Air Force Enlisted Village. The staff told her she could have an apartment immediately, and they even waived all of the move-in fees. “I couldn’t have done it, otherwise,” Cricket said. She has lived at the Air Force Enlisted Village since 1991, and she currently resides at Hawthorn House, the AFEV’s assisted living residence. “I’m so thankful for the wonderful people here,” she said.
Betty Barber and her husband were on the waiting list to live at the Air Force Enlisted Village when he passed away. “He had heart problems, and he wanted to get me in a nice place before he died,” she said. Soon after he died in 1995, Hurricane Opal struck the panhandle of Florida, where Betty lived. “It tore the wall right out of our house. I lost most of our possessions. Everything was messed up. I really needed somewhere to move.” Betty’s son helped her move into the Air Force Enlisted Village’s location at Teresa Village. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t have moved here,” she said.
When JoAnn Taylor first visited the Air Force Enlisted Village, she was still suffering from the recent shock of losing both her husband and her son. Clarence Dargie, a volunteer at the Village, offered to show JoAnn around. “I could tell how upset she was,” Clarence said. “Her grief was profound, and I shortened my dialogue and prepared to end the tour after showing her an apartment.” The apartment they were to tour had just been renovated, and it was immaculate in preparation for a new resident. “JoAnn didn’t seem to be too interested until we entered the kitchen,” Clarence said. “But then we saw a penny, square in the middle of the kitchen counter.” JoAnn’s whole demeanor changed. She asked Clarence if she could have the penny. “I asked her why the penny seemed so important to her,” Clarence said. “Her face was wreathed in a radiant smile, and all signs of doubt were gone,” he said. JoAnn then explained to Clarence, “I had asked God this morning for a sign about whether to move here,” she said. “The sign I asked for was to find a penny.” JoAnn moved into Bob Hope Village soon after the tour. “This is such a wonderful place,” JoAnn said. “I’m so happy to live here.”
Sometimes life just doesn’t work out the way we planned. The love of her life had taken her to many exciting places in their time spent serving our country. The last assignment was in San Antonio, Tex
as. It was there that he unexpectedly died and left her a young widow. In the days before Survivor Benefits Plan was an option, the death of the active duty member meant that all retirement pay stopped. This left her with only a small V.A. widow’s pension. In their years of frequent military moves few assets had been accumulated to see them through their retirement years, leaving her nothing to draw on for help. At 56 she was too young to receive any social security benefits and struggled to keep her bills paid and food on the table. She explained her plight to a caring member of the Randolph Family Support Center describing her situation as “a nightmare.” Quickly, contact was made with the Air Force Enlisted Village (then known as the Air Force Enlisted Widows Home) and arrangements were made for her to become a resident. Her transportation and moving costs were generously covered by a grant from the Air Force Aid fund. Through the caring of her Air Force Family, she is now a welcome resident and member of the Village family.
Life can take a turn downhill so fast. Dayton, OH was turning out not to be the retirement dream they had planned for all those years in the Air Force. He had died without leaving many material assets in place to see her comfortably through her old age. As with many widows, there was no Survivor’s Benefit Plan available to make up for any of the lost retirement income. She downsized her home to a small apartment, placing her belongings in a storage unit. Over the months she was unable to keep up the rental on the unit and lost her lifetime of treasures collected from their military assignments together. Eventually she wasn’t even able to keep up with the rent and utilities and was reduced to living in her car. Trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy, she used the base gym locker room for her daily grooming needs. As the winter weather became more bitter her situation was becoming desperate. Fortunately for her, a member of the gym staff befriended her and learned of her immediate need for help and contacted the Family Support Center. A plan was rapidly formed and implemented that removed her from her homeless status. Within four days, a team of Wright-Patterson AFB Family Service’s people and members of the local Air Force Sergeant’s Association arranged for her trip to Fort Walton Beach. Upon arrival she was placed in a fully furnished apartment and welcomed into our community. Her safe, secure home in Bob Hope Village was a huge difference from the cold streets living in her car. Being among friends who shared her own life experiences was her dream come true.
Life in the Air Force was proving to be the adventure advertised in all the ads. They were living in England and enjoying sharing another culture with their four lovely daughters. He worked hard and was making his way up the enlisted ranks and planning for the future. All their dreams and plans were shattered when he suffered a heart attack and died. At 36, all she could feel was shock. Having been overseas meant that she would have to move. She had no firm roots in the states but was forced to pick a spot and do so quickly. She was overwhelmed with all that faced her; being a single parent, locating a place to live and finding a job. All she seemed to find in England were brick walls until a friend told her about the Air Force Enlisted Village and our policy to help young widows with temporary housing needs. She once said that Opal Tibbitts, Admissions Director, was the first person to tell her “Yes.” Air Force Enlisted Village personnel were also able to assist her in obtaining a Correction of Military Records to have her husband retired posthumously thus allowing her to receive all of her benefits. Plans were set in place for her to occupy an apartment at Teresa Village. Since a two-bedroom apartment would be too crowded, a connecting doorway was cut between two standard units providing enough space for the young family. With her family’s housing needs being cared for, she was able to concentrate on finding a job and settling into the community. It took her less than the allotted year to find her own home and get the children established in their new life. She found a job at Hurlburt Field where she has been highly successful, winning an AFSOC Civilian of the Year award.
The bureaucracies can become a daunting giant in our lives. When an honest mistake or clerical oversight is added to the picture, life can become dreadful. She had enjoyed sharing the Air Force lifestyle with her husband and settled happily into retirement with him. They retired at a time before widows were eligible to receive any retirement pay upon the death of their spouse but they had a small insurance policy to help her out.
When her husband died, she filed all the necessary paperwork through the base to apply for a V.A. widow’s pension. All the forms were accurate to the best of her knowledge so she was shocked when after receiving her pension for a few years she was notified that the pension would stop. The action was due to an error on her original application concerning the insurance. It was only a small pension but it had allowed her to live in adequate circumstances. The insurance had covered funeral costs and a few years of expenses. The loss of her income forced her to return to work despite severe health problems. Due to her ailments she had trouble keeping up the production pace and faced losing her job. Through mutual acquaintances, Dick Young, Vice- CEO of the AFEV learned of her plight. It was determined that she would be eligible to live at Bob Hope Village and was given assistance in straightening out her VA paperwork. What was becoming a terrifying scenario turned into one with a satisfying ending. She is now living comfortably among her peers.