Roger That Newsletter - November 2022

VAREP ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Dear VAREP Members,

I present you “RT – ROGER THAT – NOV 2022” E-Zine Newsletter. This is the best way for VAREP National to communicate happenings within our organization to our members. VAREP experienced tremendous growth in 2022, and each of you should stand tall and proud, knowing your passion has empowered so many veterans to realize the American dream of homeownership. VAREP has been recognized by key leaders in the real estate, financial, and government sectors, as the voice of, and authority on, veterans’ financial literacy and homeownership.

FROM 2014 - 2022

52 homes donated mortgage-free to deserving heroes across America.

1,500 military and veteran families realized the American Dream of homeownership through our programs and services.

• 20,000 real estate and lending professionals were trained as a result of the 80 live events and online membership training.

• 5,000 military and veteran families educated about homeownership, financial literacy, and the VA loan program through the live Veteran Housing Summit events hosted by VAREP local chapters across the country.

2,000+ military and veteran families were provided food, utility payments, rent back payment, basic supplies, clothing, and blankets during the holiday season. This was made possible through our VAREPCares program implemented by the VAREP local chapters.

$70,000 in the form of housing assistance grants for down-payment, closing costs, and adaptive needs. This was in partnership with the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA).

HOW TO EXPLAIN WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

I frequently receive phone calls from our membership on how to explain VAREP as an organization. Depending on your audience, you may want to adapt the points listed below to introduce VAREP.

VAREP is a 501.c.3 nonprofit organization that was founded to directly educate the 1.4+ million active military and 22-plus million veterans on sustainable homeownership, financial literacy education, VA loan awareness, and economic opportunity.

VAREP is the only organization that educates military and veteran families on the importance of financial health on the road to homeownership.

VAREP is the only organization that educates the real estate practitioner on the important housing policy and lending initiatives that affect the military and veteran communities.

VAREP COMPARISON TO OTHER VETERAN NONPROFITS

The comparison chart to the right shows that we fill a much needed gap in financial literacy and housing components that other veteran service organizations simply do not offer. In other words: We complement them and do not compete with them.

Our organization has only scratched the surface of creating awareness and having people rethink how to better serve underserved military and veteran housing needs. To a great 2022...Cheers!

Son Nguyen VAREP Founder and President

EDITORIAL PUBLISHER

USA Homeownership Foundation, Inc. DBA Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals

EDITOR

Gretchen Mccroskey

CREATIVE

SENIOR DESIGNER Jesus Lopez

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Nick Preston

SENIOR WEB DEVELOPER Francisco Labias WEB DEVELOPER David Santana

CONTACT VAREP HEADQUARTERS

951·444·7363 info@VAREP.net 495 E. Rincon St., Suite 110 Corona, CA 92879

www.VAREP.net

ABOUT SON

Son Nguyen is the Founder and President of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP). Mr. Nguyen removes barriers to homeownership by creating, implementing, and overseeing the programs within VAREP. Mr. Nguyen works with government agencies and policy makers to reform veteran housing policies.

He is frequently called upon as a subject matter expert by government agencies, the real estate industry, the lending industry, and real estate trade organizations to consult on a variety of veteran housing issues.

Mr. Nguyen has more than 19 years’ experience in real estate, public speaking, supplier diversity, curriculum development, and non-profit management. His record demonstrates innovation and leadership at the highest level.

Mr. Nguyen established VAREP as a housing non-profit for vets, by vets, driven by his proactive stance of providing financial literacy education, and homeownership advocacy. His goal is to greatly impact homelessness among the veteran community, by reducing the current epidemic, and preventing future occurrences, one veteran at a time.

Mr. Nguyen entered the Navy in 1996 and served as a Radioman on the USS Vincennes (GC-49) and USS Constellation (CV-64). A proud service-connected disabled veteran, Mr. Nguyen holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from of the University of Florida and a Master’s in Organizational Management.

HAS 29 CHAPTERS

LOCATED IN 16 STATES ACROSS THE

UNITED STATES

ACTIVE CHAPTERS

Alaska

VAREP South Central Alaska - Founded on June 23, 2020

Arizona

VAREP Phoenix Chapter - Founded on September 3, 2013

VAREP Prescott Chapter - Founded on June 27, 2019

VAREP Tucson Chapter - Founded on January 28, 2015

California

VAREP East Bay Area Chapter - Founded on August 24, 2017

VAREP Fresno Chapter - Founded on January 30, 2019

VAREP Orange County Chapter - Founded on March 11, 2013

VAREP Sacramento Chapter - Founded on June 4, 2013

VAREP San Bernardino Chapter- Founded on August 14, 2014

VAREP San Diego Chapter - Founded on July 29, 2013

Colorado

VAREP Denver Chapter - Founded on August 14, 2014

Florida

VAREP Central Florida Chapter - Founded on April 14, 2015

VAREP Miami Chapter - Founded on July 13, 2015

Georgia

VAREP Atlanta Chapter - Founded on January 22, 2019

Hawaii

VAREP Honolulu Chapter - Founded on April 04, 2014

Idaho

VAREP Treasure Valley Chapter - Founded on May 17, 2018

Illinois

VAREP Chicago Chapter - Founded on June 21, 2016

Kentucky

VAREP Louisville Chapter - Founded on June 14, 2018

VAREP Northern Kentucky Chapter - Founded on June 13, 2022

Missouri

VAREP St Louis Chapter - Founded on March 10, 2017

Nevada

VAREP Las Vegas Chapter - Founded on August 30, 2013

VAREP Northern Nevada Chapter - Founded on March 4, 2015

Oregon

VAREP Central Oregon Chapter - Founded on February 12, 2019

Texas

VAREP DFW Chapter - Founded on December, 2015

VAREP Houston Chapter - Founded on March 30, 2015

VAREP San Antonio Chapter - Founded on December 10, 2013

Virginia

VAREP Hampton Roads Chapter - Founded on September 5, 2018

VAREP Northern Virginia Chapter - Founded on May 30, 2018

Washington

VAREP Tacoma South Sound Chapter - Founded on December 15, 2014

SAVETHEDATE

OCTOBER 15TH - 17TH, 2023 ORLANDO, FLORIDA

The VAREP National Convention will educate, develop, and empower current and future leaders within the VAREP organization. VAREP leaders and members will be equipped with the necessary tools to serve the military and veteran housing needs. Attendees will participate in sessions to exchange chapter best practices, and to explore new ones together.

A WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR

Ernie Gonzales

It is a humble feeling when you surround yourself with like-minded people and are part of something that is life changing. As the Association Director, I have a unique perspective in seeing the chapters’ accomplishments from the inside out. I must admit that this organization is full of servant leaders and pillars in their community. The thought, time, money, and of course blood, sweat and tears that our chapters put into their events, whether it be fundraising, education, community outreach or a mixer. The effort is seen and appreciated.

With this article being the final newsletter for the year, we at VAREP National Headquarters want to thank our leaders, our directors, our members, and of course our sponsors. This has been an amazing year with being able to have BOTH our National Conference and National Convention in-person again. Seeing the hugs and handshakes were endearing and it reminds us why we do what we do and why we continue to strengthen and grow this organization, so we can see more of those moments.

And so our sponsors can see the progress and lives we have touched through our chapters. Our leaders have worked hard creating opportunities to help our local veterans through education and outreach events, and in return have impacted the communities in which we serve.

It was an amazing year, and we all look forward to even more growth, more opportunities, and more hugs and handshakes in-person this upcoming year. We can not wait to see all our chapters continue to impact and improve the areas we serve, and we will continue to find more ways to share our mission nationwide. With that said, again we would like to thank every person involved in moving the VAREP mission forward and wish you a strong end-of-year in both your chapters and business. The VAREP National Team and I hopes everyone has a very wonderful, safe, and happy holidays!!!

Ernie Gonzales, Association Director

Your Ultimate Guide

The 4 P's of Marketing

In an ideal world, the 4 P's of marketing might include ping pong tables, paid time off, perks, and parties. While those might be fun to have in your office, they do not exactly guide your sales strategy (okay, unless you’re selling ping pong tables).

That’s why the real 4 P's in marketing are a bit more practical. And they were designed to help you engage your audience and increase sales.

What does the 4 P's in marketing mean?

In 1960, marketing professor Edmund Jerome McCarthy introduced the 4 Ps in his book, “Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach”, and they’ve stood the test of time almost 60 years later. Why? Because McCarthy took consumer behavior into account. He considered the four elements of marketing that affect how consumers value your brand, and turned them into four invaluable tools that you can use to guide your marketing objectives.

What are the 4 P's of marketing?

Why are the 4 P's in marketing

important?

This marketing mix is important because it helps give you a framework to ensure you have all your marketing basics covered. It also ensures that you're clear on how your product meets a specific customer need or demand. Now that we have the basics covered, let’s take a look at how the product, price, place, and promotion can help you market your business in new ways this year.

01. Product

It starts with product: The tangible object or intangible service you’re selling to your customers. Under this umbrella, you’ll want to clearly convey the benefits of your products, which pain points they address, and what they can do for your customers. Maybe you offer exclusive features that your competitors don’t or special customer experiences that make your products more enjoyable to use.

Take luggage company Away, for instance. They offer modern, minimalist bags with unbreakable shells. And they use Instagram to showcase their aesthetically pleasing products.

Meanwhile, Airbnb provides a solid example of an intangible product. The home-sharing company offers

hosts a streamlined platform through which they can rent out their properties to guests. And it keeps these hosts happy by constantly updating features like the reservation page and offering advice from hospitality gurus, as in this email newsletter:

The newsletter also serves to keep hosts connected, providing them with a built-in community of fellow customers who are going through the same experiences they are. Through this community, they can share their issues, concerns, and successes—learning from each other and providing feedback to improve the product along the way.

02. Price

Price is more than a number. It does not just cover how much you need to charge in order to make a return on your investment. It also takes into account how much customers are willing to pay for your product, what they perceive the value to be, and how your price stacks up against those of your competitors.

Glasses company Warby Parker for example, built its brand on offering stylish products that don’t break the bank. In fact, the moment you hit the landing page for their Resort 2018 collection, you see a price right above the fold.

You can also factor discounts and special offers into how you approach price. These further serve to provide value to customers and inform your marketing content. For example, Warby Parker might launch a sale for National Sunglasses Day (which is a thing, yes) or for the winter season when they might not be selling as many products.

03. Place

This part involves how you will get your product to your customer. Where will they access and buy your goods? Will they go to your website, head to a third-party retailer like Amazon, or step inside your brick and mortar store? For this, it’s important to understand how your target audience researches their purchases and how they prefer to make the final sale.

Just look at direct-to-consumer brands like Harry’s and Glossier, which have totally revolutionized e-commerce in the last decade. By directly selling products

That’s why Glossier runs Instagram ads that invite users to buy directly from their website. With the “Shop Now” call-to-action button, those users can even check out on the Glossier site without leaving the Instagram app. Evidently, the brand knows how and where to reach people with an interest in beauty products, and how to help them purchase quickly and easily.

That probably wouldn’t be the case for a luxury brand like Chanel or Dior. But for Warby Parker, price is built right into their marketing strategy and materials.

to buyers, these brands can establish more personalized customer relationships and deliver goods faster than if they had a middleman. A recent study even found that 81% of consumers plan to shop from direct-to-consumer brands within the next five years.

You might also deliver products to consumers via a subscription service, like Dollar Shave Club. In fact, they automatically send new razors and toiletries to customers so they don’t have to run to the store every time they need new supplies. Dollar Shave Club cleverly incorporates this feature into its advertising by telling its followers how often they should replace their bath products.

The resulting graphics are helpful and informative for customers and, of course, they might inspire prospective buyers to subscribe.

04. Promotion

Finally, we’ve reached the P that might seem most obvious for your marketing mix: Promotion. That includes social outreach, influencer partnerships, flyers, billboards, and everything in between. It includes anything that helps you reach the right audience, with the right product, at the right time.

Take a look at the eco-friendly company, Boxed Water, which launched a user-generated content campaign. The brand empowers customers to post photos of their own Boxed Water with the hashtag #BetterPlanet. Select photos are then featured on the company’s website. For every post, Boxed Water also promises to plant two trees on your behalf. So far, they’ve planted over 612,000 trees and counting.

This marketing campaign ticks many boxes: It makes good on the company’s mission to promote sustainability; it builds a community of advocates and expands the brand’s audience; it generates free content on behalf of the brand; it proves that the company cares about the customer’s voice; it empowers customers to build a better world and give back to the environment. This is just one example of a successful and multifaceted campaign. Along with promoting a hashtag to use across social media, brands can also create graphic templates that customers can use to share their posts. These might incorporate the brand logo, brand colors, or a uniform frame, within which they can share photos.

The 5th P

That’s right. There’s a fifth P. Well, not according to Edmund Jerome McCarthy. But if you look at any great marketing strategy, it’s always bolstered by the fifth P: People.

People meaning you: The brains behind the operation. And people meaning your audience: The fleshand-blood humans who have real hopes, interests, and desires that you must appeal to.

We can break down marketing into helpful acronyms and catchy terms, but people lie at the heart of it.

So just keep that in mind when you embark on the journey of the 4 P's of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. Remember to make decisions based on your target audience and, ultimately, you’ll be primed to engage your customers and increase sales.

Maybe then you can start working on those ping pong tables, paid time off, perks, and parties.

https://www.canva.com/learn/yourultimate-guide-to-the-4-ps-ofmarketing/

VETCares is proud to announce our new Vehicle Donation Program.

Recycle your vehicle by donating it! We have partnered with a national organization with a network of attorneys, auction houses, and towing companies that will safely dispose of your Vehicle. Your donation is converted into cash which funds VETCares’ Grant Programs helping military and veteran communities across America.

We accept the following but not limited to: autos, RV’s, ATV’s, Motorcycles, boats, tractors, trucks of all kinds, etc. We look forward to our continued service towards servicemembers and veterans by partnering with you and your donations.

Note: While we prefer the donated vehicles to be in working order, they don’t have to be.

Please see the Vehicle Donation Flyer on page 15 for more information regarding the donation process, and how you can help. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Our grants support servicemembers, veterans, and their families, in several key areas including: emergency needs, financial needs, affordable housing needs, closing costs, alternative therapy travel costs, healing therapy camp grants, job clothing placement grants, job incubation grants, and start-up business grants, and more programs currently in development.

WE NEED YOU, The Veterans Need Your Help – Please Donate Today!

Don’t have a Car to Donate? No Problem – Scan the QR code below and give generously!

Respectfully,

Dex Cajigal VETCares, Inc. Vehicle Donation Program Director

SCAN TO DONATE

CAMPAIGN

We have some exciting news to share with all of you! The Stop Drop & Push Campaign partnered with American Financial Network, Inc (AFN) in a 1.5 month Campaign, from September 1, 2022 - November 1, 2022 to raise awareness for veteran Suicide, and to raise funds for our four main philanthropic programs under VETCares, Inc.

VETCares, Inc. is our newest 501c3 designed to help all our military and veteran heroes “Get through it” or like we like to say, “Give them their hand up, not hand out”. VETCares is fully operational with the following programs:

Stop Drop & Push Campaign –

Helping end the 22 a day veteran suicides by offering gap funding for alternative therapy.

Calloway Closing Cost Grant –

This offers first time home buyers a fully forgiveable $2,000 closing cost grant.

Military & Veteran Emergency Grant –

This grant offers assistantance to our heroes when they come across a difficult time they may not have prepared for. Housing payment, car insurance or repairs, medical needs, baby needs, etc.

Camp Cares –

This program is currently being built. VAREP is working on opening its very own alternative therapy facility in Pray, Montana, that will offer cousneling while fly fishing, hunting and creating community.

You can learn more about each of these programs by visiting vetcares. org. Currently we are almost out of funds for the the CCCG so if you know any organizations looking to donate money please send them our way so we can work on raising more money. We do not want to turn anyone away if possible.

HOUSING COUNSELING CORNER

USA HOMEOWNERSHIP FOUNDATION’S HUD HOUSING COUNSELORS ARE READY, WILLING AND ABLE TO HELP VETERANS, SERVICEMEMBERS AND PATRIOTS FIND HOUSING SOLUTIONS

USA Homeownership Foundation Housing

Counseling Department has been bustling this year, helping clients recover from the economic impacts of Covid, and overcome the challenges of buying a home in this competitive housing market. Over the past year, we have counseled and educated more than 629 individuals on credit improvement, financial fitness, VA Loans, the home buying process, and Foreclosure Prevention.

Success story! We were contacted by Adam Siler, who was searching for assistance on improving his low 400's credit score, and what necessary preparations he needed to make before trying to purchase a home of his own. Our HUD Housing counselor Thomas Griffin, reviewed Adam's information, and provided an assessment and plan of action, informing him that he

needed to change his relationship with money immediately. Adam and his wife both agreed to follow Thomas' action plan in an effort to alter years worth of poor money management. The situation was grim, but the prospect of finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel was enough motivation for them to stick to the budget, track expenses, and differentiate between "wants" and "needs" when spending money. They paid their monthly obligations on time, negotiated with their collection accounts, and got their credit back on track. The counseling has given them hope and encouragement to realize the dream of homeownership. Adam and his wife are now debt free, and his credit score went from the low 400's to the high 600's. They also were able to save

up enough money to purchase a home and make their dream of homeownership become a reality. Housing Counseling works and we are so excited to help our clients like Adam make their dream of homeownership come true. Check out Adam’s story and many other of our other success stories like his at https://www.myhomeownership. org/video-library/. In other news, we received a generous grant of $150,000 from Wells Fargo Foundation to support our "Operation Housing Stability" program that helps our Veterans, Active Military and Patriots across the US to remain housed and allows us to provide foreclosure prevention and rental counseling and educational programs. We truly appreciate Wells Fargo’s partnership and support of our important work. If you have clients, friends or family who need no cost help with credit, rental, home buying, VA Loan, or foreclosure prevention, please contact the Housing Counseling department at: MyHomeOwnership.org

Contact our Housing Counseling Department by visiting our website at MyHomeOwnership.org click on counseling and complete the online intake forms, then view our short video on Housing Counseling services: myhomeownership.org/counseling/ Email your request to Gabriel Cornejo Housing Counseling Administrative Assistant, at hcadmin@varep.net . Follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/usahomeownership Instagram: https://www.instagram. com/usahomeownershiphousing/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ usahomeownershiphousing

HOW TO SPOT A SCAM

Unfortunately, scams are a fact of life online. The virtual ties that bind us are international now: Our public telephone numbers, social media accounts, email addresses, messaging apps, dating profiles, and even our physical mailboxes, can all be reached by criminals and con artists from anywhere in the world.

And test us they do, with everything from the preposterous offers of “Nigerian princes” to the slow boiling intimacy of long-term, long-distance romances.

There is an abundance lot of good advice around (and plenty of it on this website) to help you understand which scams are popular right now, how they work, and how to spot them.

Though undoubtedly useful, the advice is often specific to a single campaign or type of scam: Watch out for fake DHL emails; Beware of SMS messages from the Royal Mail; Don’t open invoices from unknown senders; Check the spelling and links in emails; Reverse image search toogood-to-be-true dating profile pics, and so on.

Being specific, the advice is narrow.

THE END GOAL OF ALL SCAMS IS TO ENRICH THE SCAMMER."

SMS scams are not the same as email scams, and neither has much in common with a romance scam. There is a lot to remember.

So today I’m going to offer you something different. I want to give you the most general advice I can—a template that can be applied to almost any scam, over any media, on any time scale, whether it’s a new scam or something tried and tested.

It doesn’t make the other advice redundant, it’s just another way to look at things.

The advice comes from perhaps the most famous conman in the world, Frank Abagnale, whose alleged exploits were made famous by Leonardo DeCaprio in the movie “Catch me if you can”. Abagnale’s account of his own backstory is either true, partially true, or a total

fabrication, depending on who you ask. What isn’t in doubt is that he knows a thing or two about lying to get what he wants.

In 2019 he gave an interview to CNBC, in which he gives perhaps the best generalised advice about scams I’ve ever heard, and which I will repeat here.

In every scam no matter how sophisticated or how amateur, there are two red flags.

These are Abagnale’s red flags:

AN URGENT NEED FOR MONEY

The end goal of all scams is to enrich the scammer. That, often involves a direct transfer of money, whether it’s entering credit card details into a fake website, or wiring tens of thousands of dollars to a stranded lover.

The demand for money is almost always urgent. Scammers know that their requests don’t stack up, so they want you to rush, and they don’t want you to involve other people.

In a romance scam where the criminal hopes to make the victim

"

fall in love with them, the scammer may take their time to begin. However, when the demand for money comes, it is likely to be urgent.

On a recent Lock and Code podcast, Cindy Liebes, Chief Cybersecurity Evangelist for the Cybercrime Support Network, spelled out just how patient these scammers can be:

"It can take months, it can take years, but invariably they will seek to get money."

In other situations, such as business email compromise (BEC) scams, the urgency is immediate.

In a BEC scam an attacker spoofs the email account of a senior employee, such as a CEO, and tries to get a more junior employee to send them some of the company’s money.

Requests often come with a deadline and a demand for secrecy. The “CEO” concocts a story with one or more emails, messages or phone calls about needing help with an urgent, confidential deal. The scammer wants to isolate the employee from the company’s checks and balances, and their own common sense.

Underpinning it all is Abagnale’s first red flag: An urgent need for money.

Sometimes victims aren’t told to act urgently, they just want to. A few months ago we covered an Instagram scam in which victims thought they’d stumbled upon a website where they could see naked pictures of an attractive friend.

The urgency here came from the viewer’s desire to act on a sexual impulse, and is reinforced by language like “LIMITED SLOTS ONLY, DON’T MISS OUT” and “What are you waiting for?”

The small print even explained the scam in plain terms—victims were being signed up for a premium rate subscription service—but the scammers were betting that victims would be in too much of a hurry to read it.

ASKING FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Abagnale’s second red flag is being asked for personal information. Personal information helps the scammer pretend to be you. Sometimes it’s as simple as stealing your username and password with a fake website, so they can log in as you on the real website.

But it can also be very subtle. In his book, The Art of Deception, infamous social engineer Kevin Mitnick describes how he would sometimes make several phone calls to build up the information he needed for a scam.

Each call would capture small details that improved his credibility for the next one. For example, one of Mitnick’s most famous crimes is stealing the source code for a popular Motorola phone in the early 1990s, an attack he described to Vice in 2019.

The attack began with a call to the main Motorola reception, which sent him back-and-forth on several more calls in which he learned the phone number of the VP of Motorola mobility, and that the company had a research centre in Arlington Heights.

This information allowed him to call the VP and credibly introduce himself as “Rick, over in Arlington Heights”, which was enough to convince them to give him the name and phone number of the phone’s project manager.

Mitnick then called the project manager and learned from her voicemail that she was on holiday, and who to contact while she was away. He called the project manager’s stand-in and convinced her that the project manager had not fulfilled a promise to send him the source code before she left on holiday.

Most of the conversations did not ask for enough sensitive information to alert the people he was talking to, but every one of them contained a request for something personal or privileged. Of course, when he finally asked for the source code, he was making a request for hugely privileged information, but he was able to create a plausible enough persona to pull it off.

In fact, the last victim was so convinced of “Rick’s" authenticity that she persuaded a security manager to hand over a username and password for the company’s proxy server, on his behalf.

Thankfully, most of us aren’t faced with a hacker as skilled as Mitnick, and few of us would be able to stop him if we were. Most cons are simpler, more direct versions of the same basic idea.

And that brings me to my final point.

Many scammers are professional criminals and scams are common because they work. It makes sense to prepare yourself as thoroughly as you can to spot them, but we all fall short sometimes. There is no shame in falling for a scam, and it isn’t your fault if you do.

URL: https://www.malwarebytes. com/blog/news/2022/10/how-tospot-a-scam

The History and Roles of the U.S. Army

The Second Continental Congress founded the Army in 1775; it is the oldest service of the United States military. Originally formed to protect the freedom of the first 13 colonies, the Army has evolved and grown from this small militia force into the world's premier fighting force.

The Army exists to serve the American people, defend the nation, protect vital national interests, and fulfill national military responsibilities. Our mission is enduring: to provide necessary forces and capabilities to the combatant commanders in support of the national security and defense strategies.

The Army recruits, organizes, trains, and equips soldiers who, as vital members of their units and the joint team, conduct prompt, sustained combat and stability operations on land. The Army is also charged with providing logistics and support to enable the other services to accomplish their missions, and supporting civil authorities in time of emergency, when directed.

The Army continues to provide combatant commanders with a wide range of forces and capabilities to prevail in the war on terror, sustain our global commitments, and build effective multinational coalitions. In addition to supporting the Global War on Terrorism, the Army also assists with:

• Multinational exercises that reflect our longstanding leadership of, and commitment to, an expanding North Atlantic Treaty Organization and many other alliances

• The defense of South Korea, Japan and many other friends, allies and partners

• Ongoing peacekeeping operation

• The security of our borders

• Operations and equipment to counter the flow of illegal drugs

The bottom line: Just because the Army is the oldest doesn't mean you won't be working with today's most high-tech equipment. Most of what the Army does, it does on land. It is the largest of the military branches and has many different jobs to offer.

Source: https://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/us-army-overview.html#:~:text=The%20 Army%20exists%20to%20serve,national%20security%20and%20defense%20strategies.

“To maintain the momentum from the Policy Conference, I have appointed G-II Varrato, Yeimalis Acevedo-Rasmussen, Robbie Grossman, Lynn Jabs, Nacho Castro, Victoria Blass and Michael Hamilton to form VAREP’s National Legislative Committee (NLC). The NLC’s task is to do the background and heavy-lifting work necessary to move our mission and the bill forward.”

-

Son Nguyen, VAREP Founder & President

G-II VARRATO

NLC Chairman U.S. Air Force

NACHO CASTRO

NLC Member U.S. Army

YEIMALIS ACEVEDO-RASMUSSEN NLC Member Patriot

ROBBIE GROSSMAN NLC Member Patriot

VICTORIA BLASS NLC Member Patriot

LYNN JABS NLC Member Patriot

MICHAEL HAMILTON NLC Member Patriot

A FOLLOW UP PROGRESS REPORT FOR VAREP’S PROGRESS TO BECOME A CONGRESSIONALLY CHARTERED VSO AND PROGRESS REPORT ABOUT INFORMED CONSUMER CONSENT DISCLOSURE

INFORMED CONSUMER CONSENT DISCLOSURE:

As mentioned in the last publication of Roger That, on June 29th 2022, Congressman Derik Kilmer (WA-6) , along with Congressman Reshenthaler and Congressman Veasey introduced H.R. 8616 the VA Loan Informed Disclosure Act of 2022 also referred to as the VALID Act of 2022.

Over the past few months, the VAREP GAD Team has been diligently pursuing members of the House of Representatives, to support H.R. 8616 the VALID Act of 2022 by cosponsoring the bill. As of the writing of this report, I’m happy to report that the VAREP NLC GAD's have secured nearly 60 bipartisan cosponsors. Our goal is to secure at least 305 cosponsors before the end of the 117th Congress.

Congressman Kilmer hopes to press for a ‘voice vote’ in the House of Representatives before the end of this session, followed closely by similar

action in the Senate. So, what can you do to help secure more cosponsors for H.R. 8616 the VALID Act of 2022? Well, there is plenty you can do. Post a copy of the bill (bit.ly/ HR8616VALIDAct2022) on all of your social media pages. Urge your followers to contact their Congressmen and Congresswomen and ask them to sign on to H.R. 8616 as cosponsors of the legislation. If you have authority to add content to your chapter social media pages, i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter, do the same in those social media environments. After you have posted the initial promotion then frequently add more content to your social media spaces, again encouraging your followers/readers to take action on our legislation.

Our goal is to have H.R. 8616 the VALID Act of 2022 passed in both the House and Senate before the end of the 117th Congress and sent to the President’s desk for signature this congressional session.

VAREP AS A CONGRESSIONALLY CHARTERED VSO

The VAREP NLC is very close to getting the VSO bill introduced in the House of Representatives before the end of the 117th Congress.

Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-3) has been closely working with the NLC on refining the proposed bill’s language. We have made several small edits to the legislative language. Congresswomen Susie Lee is very close to introducing the bill in the coming weeks.

The NLC is in search of a House GOP Co-Lead for the VSO bill. We currently are working with Congresswoman Nancy Mace’s office to gain her support for our legislation. The NLC has had several meaningful ZOOM meetings with Rep. Mace’s staff. We believe we’re close to gaining her support and an agreement that she will sign on as a Co-Lead on our VSO legislation.

With good fortune smiling upon VAREP, we could have the VSO bill introduced, in the House of Representatives and in the Senate before the end of the 117th Congress.

Of course, with such a short timeline, there is no chance that we could actually get the bill passed in both the House and the Senate during the 117th Congress. However, having the bill introduced in the 117th Congress will give us a running start on pushing the VSO bill all the way to the President’s desk during the 118th Congress.

Finally, below are some additional pieces of legislation that VAREP will be supporting as the 117th Congress comes to a close… and then, into the 118th Congress.

H. R. 5776 Serving Our LGBTQ Veterans Act

H.R.7299 - Strengthening VA Cybersecurity Act of 2022 or the SVAC Act of 2022 which is a spinoff of S.3600 Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act of 2022

Susie Lee and Nancy Mace

H.R.8260 - Faster Payments to Veterans’ Survivors Act of 2022

S.4646 - Faster Payments to Veterans’ Survivors Act of 2022

H.R.7939 - Student Veteran Emergency Relief Act of 2022 passed in the House 09/14/2022 and sent to the Senate on 09/15/2022 Scott Peters and Nancy Mace

Watch for the next issue of RT for an exciting report on our further progress. STAY

G-II Varrato II

VAREP National Legislative Committee Director

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ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE:

How to Use Video on Your Website

WAYS TO USE VIDEO ON YOUR WEBSITE

There are a number of ways to harness the power of video on your site. Here are just a few powerful uses for embedded video.

HERO VIDEOS

A well-placed video is essential to engaging your audience. Let’s explore how to incorporate that video into your website.

Whether you’re a business owner, a freelancer, or an artist, adding video into your website is a great way to engage your audience. Much like a tagline or a well-crafted summary, a well-placed video can quickly pull people in and let them know what you’re all about. That said, plugging your video into your website can be tricky if you’re new to site-building. In this post, I’ll discuss using video elements to reach your audience and how to incorporate that video into your website.

To keep things accessible, we’ll focus on working with website builders such Squarespace, and popular video sharing platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. I’ll also briefly touch on working with custombuilt sites. If you’re the owner of a small business, I’d encourage you to leverage the power of a website builder. If you’d still like to go the extra mile, read this how-to post on website design for beginners.

If you need a quick, attentiongrabbing way to introduce your site to visitors, a hero video will do the trick. Think of it as a preface for whatever summary you may write. After all, why make your audience read what you’re all about when they can feel it?

BACKGROUND LOOPS

A looping background video is a great way to give your sight depth. Rather than grabbing the visitor’s attention, a moving background is there to frame that attention, enhancing text and still image content with a visually kinetic bed. You could think of looping background video as the visual version of a music bed.

EXPLAINER VIDEOS

When you’re ready to get down to more granular content, explainers and demonstrative videos are the perfect way to get your message across. Often using a combination of footage and motion graphics, explainers can present complex or abundant information in a manner that is accessible to all.

UPLOADING YOUR VIDEO

So, you have a finished video you’d like to use on your site. What now? If you want to embed a video, you need a place for the actual video files to live. There are a few ways to accomplish this, but the easiest method, by far, is to upload your video to an already popular and wellmaintained video sharing platform, such as YouTube or Vimeo.

UPLOAD TO YOUTUBE

To upload your video to YouTube, simply log in, click the YouTube icon at the top right of your window, then click YouTube Studio. Once in your dashboard, click either the button marked CREATE or the Upload icon. Then, simply drag the video you wish to upload into the Upload window. For more guidance, watch this video from the YouTube Creators channel.

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=6C4dEpT0rYg

UPLOAD TO VIMEO

To upload your video to Vimeo, just log in to Vimeo, then click the button marked New Video at the top right, then click Upload. This will bring you to the Vimeo Uploader. Then, just drag the video you wish to upload directly into the Uploader. For more help, see this video from the Vimeo Staff.

https://vimeo.com/92060047?embed ded=true&source=video_title&own er=152184

into your website’s code, therefore embedding that video onto your webpage or post. Retrieving your embed code is easy if you know where to look.

RETRIEVE VIDEO CODE FROM YOUTUBE

To retrieve your video’s embed code from YouTube, go to your video’s Watch Page, then click the share icon to view your Share Settings.

the embed attributes in Vimeo by clicking Show Options at the bottom of the Share Window. When you’re happy with your settings, just copy the new embed code. Watch the video below for more help from the Vimeo Staff. https://vimeo.com/92060045?embed ded=true&source=video_title&own er=152184

Many social media sharing platforms, such as Twitter or Instagram, also provide embed codes for videos. However, these codes will embed the entire social media post rather than just the video.

EMBEDDING YOUR VIDEO INTO A WEBSITE BUILDER

It’s also important to be mindful of your video’s specs. Each video sharing platform will provide a set of ideal dimensions and formats for uploading. That said, working with MP4s, video encoded with the H.264 codec, will generally give the best results. See our post about video file formats and codecs for more insight on choosing the best video specs.

RETRIEVE YOUR VIDEO’S EMBED CODE

To embed your video into your website, you’ll either need your video’s unique URL or that video’s embed code. The embed code is the string of code provided by a third party (such as YouTube or Vimeo) that you can copy and paste

Click the tab marked Embed to see your video’s embed code. You can adjust attributes of your embedded video by clicking Show More at the bottom of the Share Settings. Once you’ve adjusted your settings, simply copy the embed code. See the video below for more guidance from the YouTube Help Team. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=lJIrF4YjHfQ

RETRIEVE VIDEO CODE FROM VIMEO

To get your video’s embed code from Vimeo, go to your video’s Clip Page, then hover the mouse over the video player to reveal the paper airplane icon at the top right of your video. Click the paper airplane to open the Share Window, where you’ll find an embed code. Much like in YouTube, you can adjust

If you’re working with a custombuilt website, all you need to do is paste your video’s embed code into the body of the webpage you wish to add it to. How you go about this depends entirely on how your site is built, but for some comprehensive guidance, W3Schools is an excellent resource. Alternatively, working with a website builder is much more intuitive for those of us who aren’t seasoned web developers.

SQUARESPACE

For instance, inside the Squarespace website builder, you can insert a Video Block into your website’s design. A Video Block in Squarespace is a sort of sitebuilding widget that makes inserting video quick and easy.

While editing your page in Squarespace, just click an Insert Point and select Video in the block menu. This will reveal your video editor window, where you can paste your video’s unique web address into the field marked Video URL. You may also use your video’s embed code by clicking the HTML icon </> in the video editor window. When you’re done, just click Save.

Voilà! You now have an embedded video. For more guidance from the Squarespace Help Team, check out this video below.

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4ukDlFfChl4

The Squarespace Help Team has a number of helpful video tutorials to guide you through several sitebuilding features, such as adding video backgrounds. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=cAxzkwr1lk0

Find the Videos tab to the left, then find the video you wish to edit. Click the video to reveal the Details Window. Inside the Details Window, find the Thumbnails section and click the box marked Upload thumbnail.

From here, you can upload your custom thumbnail from your computer.

Clip Page and click the button marked Settings located below the player. Inside your General Settings, find the Thumbnail options and click Edit Thumbnail, then click Upload. Be sure to click Save at the bottom of your video’s General Settings, once you’ve uploaded your custom thumbnail image.

Keep in mind that Squarespace is just one of many powerful website building tools. If you’d like to learn more about what each has to offer, see our post on what website builder will work best for you.

CREATE A GREAT THUMBNAIL IMAGE

Once you’ve uploaded your video, select an attention-grabbing thumbnail to better engage your visitors. Keep in mind that your video’s thumbnail should balance well with the design of your site, as a whole.

ADD A THUMBNAIL TO YOUR YOUTUBE VIDEO

To add a custom thumbnail to your videos in YouTube, you’ll need to have your account verified. Although an extra hurdle, this will give you access to many of the powerful features YouTube Studio has to offer. Once verified, adding a custom thumbnail is easy.

Go to your channel and click the button marked YOUTUBE STUDIO located at the top right corner.

The latest version of YouTube Studio offers a wide range of goodies for YouTube Creators, such as a new Video Editor and a tool for Creating Custom Thumbnails from scratch. For more on YouTube Studio, visit the YouTube Creators Channel. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JuOd3xJpd0Q

If becoming a YouTube Creator isn’t your style, you can always use Vimeo. Vimeo has become the standard bearer for sharing professional video, with intuitive and flexible features that make sharing and embedding video easy.

ADD THUMBNAIL IMAGE INSIDE VIMEO

To add a custom thumbnail image inside Vimeo, go to your video’s

HARNESS THE POWER OF VIDEO

Whether your message is big-picture or indepth, adding some video to your website will help you connect your audience with that message. With so many intuitive and accessible tools to choose from, harnessing the power of video is easier than ever. Explore these tools, make that connection, and make your website the best it can be.

https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/ use-video-on-your-website

U.S. Bank is proud to support the 2022 Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals National Convention.

You have our backs.

U.S. Bank has yours.

U.S. Bank is proud to support active service members, veterans and military families with specialized products and services, including:

VA home loan featuring no down payment options and competitive fixed rates. Waived monthly maintenance fee and no minimum balance requirement on a U.S. Bank Smartly Checking™ account1 (excluding Safe Debit Account).

The award-winning U.S. Bank Mobile App for easier banking, anywhere, anytime

We are committed to serving the military community with grants through the U.S. Bank Foundation to support workforce education, job placement, financial education and affordable housing.

Visit usbank.com/military to learn more about our military banking products and services.

1. A minimum of $25 is required to open a U.S. Bank personal checking account. All regular account opening procedures apply Loan approval is subject to credit approval and program guidelines. Not all loan programs are available in all states for all loan amounts. Interest rates and program terms are subject to change without notice. Visit usbank.com t o le arn m ore ab out U .S. Ban k p roducts and services. Mortgage, home equity and credit products are offered by U.S. Bank National Association. Deposit products are offered by U.S. Bank National Association. Member FDIC. ©2022 U.S. Bank 820206c 8 /22

VETCares, Inc. The Journey Begins…Welcome & Hello!

VETCares, Inc. was approved as non-profit 501(c)3 by the IRS on 12/29/2021. VetCares, a sister company to USA Homeownership Foundation, Inc. dba VAREP, formed to implement national philanthropic programs that serve Military and Veteran communities.

To be sustainable and support the mission, VETCares launched the “VETCares Home Furnishing & More Thrift Store” in Las Vegas, Nevada and the “VETCares Vehicle Donation Program” powered by Cars.org. Net proceeds from these business models will go towards VETCares programs. This ensures economic stability allowing us to serve the veteran and active military communities on many fronts.

VETCares Home Furnishings & More Thrift Store

Since then, the Home Furnishings Store has established its local marketing and donation plan within the Las Vegas area and the word is out that this “is not the ‘typical’ thrift store”. Patrons are thrilled about the quality of the store, merchandise, and most of all, the affordable pricing. We believe we hit the trifecta in our approach and are grateful to the local community for their support. The donations made enable us to offer affordable products during tough economic times, while using those proceeds to back grants which support our veterans and active military service members.

We started our journey in September 2021 to open our first home furnishings thrift store in Las Vegas, NV in 2022. After securing a location and preparing the store to open for business, we held the grand opening of the store on August 20, 2022. The grand opening was a success with local Chamber of Commerce, local Air Force Base recipients, local real estate agents/lenders/title reps, Las Vegas VAREP Chapter Directors and members and the community at large that all supported the opening celebration.

VETCares Vehicle Donation Program

The second initiative we launched this year is the VETCares, Inc. Vehicle Donation Program. This program focuses on transforming vehicles donated from the community, financial institutions, and other various partnerships The proceeds from the sales of the auto donations allow us to serve those who have served our country through VETCares grant programs.

Donating is a great way to dispose of an old or extra vehicle. The process is easy, and we provide free and convenient pick-up. We strive to accept any vehicle – cars, trucks, motorcycles, RV's, boats, airplanes, heavy equipment, farm machinery, and most other motorized vehicles – in all 50 states - running or not.

The VETCares Vehicle Donation Program starts by visiting our website at https://vetcares.careasy. org/home to complete the donation application. Once application is completed a representative will reach out to you and schedule a free pick-up within 24 hours nationwide.

If you prefer to speak with a customer service representative to help you through the process, you may contact us at 855-600-8387. The phone lines are staffed by Live customer service reps 6am-8:30pm Mon-Fri, 7am-8:30pm Sat/Sun. Please leave a message after hours and someone will get back to you the next day.

In addition to a seamless process, you may qualify for a tax deduction for your donation. Turn your vehicle into resources that helps ensure our nation’s heroes have the opportunity to receive a grant that will impact a positive change in their lives.

This is a $2,000 grant to be used towards closing costs and is forgivable with no repayment.

Sam Luna, approached Son Nguyen, Founder of USA Homeownership Foundation, Inc. dba VAREP with the idea of this grant as a tribute to Robert Callaway’s legacy. We worked together recently and recorded a video to help promote the grant.

The grant program process includes a thorough application/vetting of applicant, interview with applicant, check to make sure applicant meets LMI HUD guidelines, referral/conversation with one of USA Homeownership Foundation, Inc’s counselors to assist with successful homeownership.

Stop Drop Push (SDP)

Military and Veteran Emergency Grants (MVEG)

This Emergency Funds Grant has been in the VAREP background for years and available for those who have submitted requests. In the past years we have awarded a few grants and now have the opportunity to offer grants throughout the year.

This Grant assists qualified servicemembers or veterans with critical needs such as overdue bills, rent/mortgage, groceries, auto payment/insurance, auto repair, child & dependent care, and critical baby items. This Grant is designed to help our service members/veterans regain health and stability, build work and social skills to reenter the workforce, and restore families that have been disrupted due to unexpected events.

Applicants go through an application process that includes an interview, collection of financial documents and referral letters, referral/conversation with one of USA Homeownership Foundation, Inc’s counselors to help guide them to success in the future.

In 2013, the United States Department of Veteran Affairs released a study which showed that roughly 22 veterans were dying by suicide per day, or one every 65-minutes. Studies have determined in addition to medication and traditional therapy, a holistic approach including alternative therapies such as existential/ transpersonal, animal-assisted psychotherapy and play therapy are important as part of the road to recovery for many veterans. With this in mind, we provide qualified veterans with grants to cover the costs associated to fully participate in these programs such as transportation, lodging, meals, and equipment costs. In special cases, we also provide organizations with GAP grants to help implement these programs.

We connect veterans with partners within our network who have been carefully vetted within our database, which is continuously updated, to ensure veterans are being connected with top-notch organizations.

CampCares

Established in 2022, The vision was to grow a camp from the ground up in Pray, MT. The goal is to build an alternative healing camp offering therapy programs and counseling through hunting, fishing, equine therapy, hiking and backcountry camping, that assists Veterans on their road to rediscovering purpose.

Veterans Healing Camp – July 19 – 22, 2022

Thanks to donations, we received during the first quarter of 2022, we were able to hold our first “Veteran Healing Camp” July 19-22 this year in Pray, Mt.

The camp grant application process brought forth 3 combat Veterans, 1 Army Veteran and 2 Marine Veterans (one of which is a purple heart recipient) that upon completing the vetting/application process were granted to attend the camp in Montana.

The Veterans participated in class instruction as beginner students in fly fishing, learning about gear, skills and navigating the lessons on the river. The camp started with 1 day in “classroom” then 2 days on the river with a professional guide and evening professional counseling fireside chats “detaching” from their struggles and learning techniques to take home with them to help in healing and rediscovering through new experiences/skills.

The veterans floated 2 of the most infamous rivers in fly fishings "golden triangle", the Yellowstone and Madison rivers. It was clear that the experience gave each of them a different perspective on life, and how connecting to the great outdoors can aide their healing while they transition their lives from service.

Keep an eye out for information on our 2023 Fundraiser to be held at the Sage Lodge in Emigrant, MT (approx. 1 mile from the current location) to raise funds to grow our yearly camp events each year. This fund raiser will include inviting the local community to participate, as well as well-known business organizations in camping, hunting and fishing to be our guests. The event will include bands, silent and live auction with items related to the outdoor events and a top-notch dinner at an extraordinary location in Emigrant, MT.

In Summary

To truly make VETCares, Inc. successful, all hands must be on deck to support the philanthropic arm. We need your help, your donations, your voice to spread the word, your time to spread the flyers, QR codes, the website, anything you can do to always be discussing VETCares Programs and asking for the money needed to help our military and veteran communities. It is our goal to create massive awareness not only within our own organization, but the public as well, so that people come to us wanting to know more, wanting to donate and wanting to get involved.

Thank you! Each and every one of our volunteers. You make the difference for our service members and veterans!

Carla Lemon Executive Director

Camp Goals moving forward include: Raising $3-5 Million dollars to build an independent camp owned by VETCares, Inc. in a more private/remote location on/near a river to hold camps year round for Veterans.

The Purpose of the National Education Committee (NEC) is to assist with empowering and preparing all communities for sustainable homeownership through the advancement of knowledge and financial literacy.

As the housing market continues to change and interest rates remain higher, more agents and sellers are asking about the VA Assumption and how the process works. Here is some quick information about the Assumption process.

1. All VA loans are fully assumable with qualification

2. Anyone (not necessarily a Veteran) can assume a VA loan

3. Occupancy is not required by the assumer, and it can be for an investment

JAIMIE GARRETT

NEC Chair Patriot

MICHELLE CRUMLEY

NEC Member Patriot

EDDIE DE LEON

NEC Member

Patriot

KIMBERLY LARKIN -

RITTER

NEC Member

Patriot

STEPHEN DEMUTH NEC Member Patriot

JOHN MILLER

NEC Member

U.S. Air Force

JEFF WILSON NEC Member U.S. Army

SEAN SELTERS NEC Member U.S. Army

4. The assumer (buyer) will be required to pay a .5% VA Funding Fee (unless an exempt Veteran) plus a processing fee

5. The buyer is assuming the remaining balance of the loan as well as the remaining term

6. If the purchase price exceeds the remaining balance on the VA loan, the buyer can obtain secondary financing to provide the difference to the seller (Veteran)

7. The terms on secondary financing must be in general conformance to the VA loan, i.e., fully amortize, no balloon, must be assumable

8. If the Veteran sells to another Veteran, the buyer/ assumer can substitute their entitlement, this is called a Substitution of Entitlement (SOE); Both Seller and Buyer must request this in writing during the assumption process

9. The Buyer must have sufficient remaining entitlement to cover the original loan. Be sure to check out the VA Assumption lunch and learn that is in the Toolbox. Feel free to reach out to the NEC for additional help and clarification if needed. Keep up the amazing work of hosting lunch and learns and teaching the MVHC class to educate your local communities, it is wonderful to see our numbers grow.

YOU make the difference one Veteran at a time.

Jaimie Garrett, National Education Committee, Chair

HUD Certified Educator, Patriot 253-224-8906

WHO WE ARE

The Stop, Drop and Push Campaign (SDPC) is part of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals’ (VAREP) philanthropic platform of giving back (VAREP is a 501c.3 non-profit focused on housing for veterans). Although our focus may be on veteran housing, we cannot stand idle while our brothers and sisters are part of the 22 veteran suicide statistic.

HISTORY OF THE NUMBER 22

In 2012 the Department of Veterans Affairs released a 59-page report outlining veteran suicide. The report states the number of Veterans who die from suicide each day has remained relatively stable over the past 12 years (ranging from 18 -22 per day).

STOP, DROP & PUSH MISSION

To lower the 22 veteran lives lost each day due to suicide by educating the public about veteran reintegration issues; connecting alternative veteran therapy providers to those who need treatment; and provide the necessary funding to ensure treatment is possible so our heroes will rediscover purpose and lead productive lives.

ALTERNATIVE THERAPY

Research has determined in addition to medication and traditional therapy, a holistic approach including alternatives therapies such as existential/transpersonal, animal-assisted psychotherapy and play therapy (examples include martial arts, fly fishing, mountain climbing and rafting) are important as part of the road to recovery for many veterans.

| info@stopdroppush.org

FACES IN THE CROWD

“Faces in the Crowd” is a handful of responses to an intriguing question... VAREP Members share their stories of all things VAREP related!

#IAMVAREP

Why do you give your money, time, & energy to VAREP and its mission?

As a patriot, I am compelled to give back to our veterans in honor of the many sacrifices they endured to support our nation. Given appropriate education, time, and resources we can reduce veteran homelessness and make a difference in our local communities - one veteran at a time.

What is unique about VAREP?

WHY I’m VAREP

The level of research and information that is shared with Realtors and the community. The unique community outreach that takes place. The fact that it is unique in that it is run by the real estate community that is passionate about veterans.

WHY I’m VAREP

There would not be a collected voice on Capitol Hill advocating for veteran housing opportunities.

What would go undone if VAREP closed tomorrow?

#IAMVAREP

What would go undone if VAREP closed tomorrow?

Families that needs help with homes could possibly continue to struggle, lending practices could go unnoticed and our Vets can be targeted, our local real estate community could continue to be disconnected to the VA program and shy away from it, those of us who are able to go to DC or AZ would not get to experience the friendships we have now created and lessons learned from our trips with guest speakers.

What is unique about VAREP?

WHY I’m VAREP

Long line of Military members within my family. The Military made me who I am and anything I can do to give back to my brothers and sisters, I am willing to do. Someone has to fight for those that sometimes don’t even realize there is a fight that needs to be fought.

WHY I’m VAREP

It is truly an organization that cares for Veterans and does multiple things for the Veteran community. The culture within VAREP is about selfless service a key Military value.

Why do you give your money, time, & energy to VAREP and its mission?

“

The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justi ed, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.”

- George Washington