Author: M3Admin

We are proud to announce the VFW National Home for Children 2019-2020 Buddy Poppy Child, Brooklyn! Brooklyn lives in the Illinois 1 House at the National Home with her mom, step-dad and two sisters – Londyn who is 1 and Taylor who is 17. She just finished fourth grade and is going to be in middle school next year! Her favorite things to do at school are music and reading. At the National Home, some of her favorite hobbies are painting and playing in the gym but most of all she loves piano lessons with Ms. Rhonda and playing outside. “I like painting because I can use my creativity and...

The National Home would like to thank Ackley, Peters & Haubert Insurance for their support of our third annual .1K Fun Run as a Corporate/Platinum Sponsor. Locally owned and operated since the beginning, Ackley, Peters & Haubert Insurance, located in downtown Eaton Rapids has been protecting what’s important to Michigan residents for 71 years. Started in 1946 by Carl Ackley, Leonard Peters later joined in 1955, Mark Haubert in 1977 and Rick Acker in 2000. “We feel the VFW National Home for Children is an important, positive part of the Eaton Rapids community. Carl Ackley...

The VFW National Home for Children Board of Trustees has selected Fred Puffenberger to replace retiring Patrice Green as the new Executive Director. A Michigan native and graduate of Michigan State University, Green worked for many years in youth services, leaving her position with the State of Michigan’s Office of Children and Youth Services to join the National Home team in 1989. The last 15 years of her 30 year tenure was as Executive Director. Sharing her sentiments upon her retirement, Patrice stated, “I am very proud to have served this wonderful organization, and I’m confident our excellent...

Every year National Home staff and resident families come together to celebrate the accomplishments of the past academic year. This year we had seven graduating preschoolers, five high school graduates, and five parents graduating with various degrees and certificates. In addition, students who achieved excellence throughout the school year such as maintaining a high GPA or increasing their GPA, were recognized. The program started with our seven preschooler grads; Scarlet, Lyle, Jerney, Noah, Dorothy, Micah, and Sophia. Preschool Lead Teacher Quinn shared a little information about each of...

In May 2018, the Vet 2 Vet group at the VFW National Home for Children headed down to Detroit. They boarded charter boats and the boat of a friend and headed out on the Detroit River to catch walleye. They had a blast! By the next year, others had caught wind of trip, and they almost doubled their group size with two more volunteers offering their boats to the vets’ group. They have made the trip open to other veterans in the area as well as past National Home residents who still attend the group meetings, and plan to make this an annual event. “The relationships I have developed with...

This year we are pleased to announce that we have five graduating seniors! First, we have Emily. Emily has lived at the National Home for four years. In her time here she has participated in the Work Crew and has volunteered with other National Home children at the VA Medical Center in Battle Creek. Emily plans to take a gap year to take part in Americorps NCCC before heading off to college to pursue her passion for the environment! Emily would like to thank the National Home for all of the opportunities they have offered her. Next we have Macaila. Macaila has been living at the National...

Though the weather was a bit chilly, it was clear and sunny for this year’s Easter Treat festivities! National Home children enjoyed the annual Easter Egg hunt and meeting the Easter Bunnies, getting their baskets and ice cream! Then, in the evening they had a great time roller skating, eating pizza, and playing in the arcade at Allskate Fun Center in Jackson, MI. To view photos and videos from this event, check out our Flickr Album or our Instagram page!

One of the things we pride ourselves on at the National Home is the ability to offer our resident families educational and enrichment opportunities during their time here. Recently, we were pleased to host Mike Morgan, owner and lead trainer at Mid-Michigan Police K9 as a guest speaker. Mike educated staff and residents on dog and human interaction. A veteran who served in the United States Army for 24 years, Mike retired honorably and went on to continue serving his fellow man as a police officer. During his years in law enforcement, he began working as a Police Canine Handler working with...

A proud Army veteran, Robert Johnson has been cooking up support for the VFW National Home for Children for years now. Robert joined the Army at age 16 during the Korean War and was enlisted for two years. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant during that time. When Robert was up for re-enlistment, he joined the Air Force where he resumed his rank of staff sergeant and served for 12 years. For eight of those years, Robert was a personal cook for a three-star general. Robert visited the National Home for the first time in 2015 and immediately fell in love with our cause and our campus. That was...