Foster Care for Veterans

For two months last spring Jack, a 79-year-old former Air Force sergeant, lived in a nursing facility that he found to be sterile and lonely.

In May, Jack grabbed an opportunity to move in with Geraldine Carr, 53, and her family in Memphis, Tenn. He now has his own room and receives 24-hour care as part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Medical Foster Home Program. Vets pay between $1,500 and $4,000 a month to their caregivers.

Jack, whose last name is withheld due to privacy concerns, is among the more than 600 veterans nationwide to be placed in private homes since 2000. The program now operates in 25 cities and serves vets who need nursing home-level care.

“It’s one million times better [than the nursing facility],” says Jack of the Carrs’ home.

For information about the program, call 202-461-6786 or e-mail thomas.edes@va.gov.