When Emily Adams heard that her former brother in arms was having trouble keeping warm, she turned to the Highlands Ranch community to ask for help.
David Brown, a Colorado native and Army veteran of 10 years, has been doing his best to make ends meet in the six years he’s been out of the service. Both he and his girlfriend work for Walmart and were living in the company’s parking lot when their R.V.’s heater unexpectedly went out.
Knowing how cold Colorado winters can be, Emily Adams asked a Facebook group of locals if they would be willing to make blanket donations - but the Highlands Ranch community had something more in mind. Over the course of 48 hours, members of the community gave Brown blankets, clothing, a space heater, and a new generator for his R.V. Others helped Brown with a broken headlight and setting up a P.O. box, and a GoFundMe page has since reached over $6,000 to help secure the Army vet an apartment.
Brown, who suffers from PTSD and has been struggling to reintegrate to normal life, says that the support has been overwhelming, but that he’s incredibly grateful for the hand up.
Both Brown and Adams hope that this show of support will bring optimism to other veterans down on their luck. “Losing your way is all too easy when battling the scars of war...all any Veteran wants is to be productive [and] find our place again once we return,” writes Adams.
