 
 DeLance Mills (above) and his wife found the help they needed through KEYS' Supportive Services for Veterans Families (SSVF) Program to stabilize their family and achieve permanent housing and employment. He, his wife Chrissy, and three kids now live happily in Hesperia.
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A decade ago, DeLance Mills returned home to his wife in Hesperia after serving four years in the U.S. Air Force.
He had all the skills needed to find a job, but his homecoming to civilian life was met with financial uncertainty and instability. The happy and healthy family he planned with his wife, Chrissy, seemed like a distant dream.
Soon after coming home Mills and his wife moved out of state for a job with Washington Mutual but they hit another road block when the bank’s branch closed. Without a permanent place to call home, two growing kids and a newborn, post-military life proved difficult to handle on their own.
“We got tired of bouncing from temp job to temp job. Chrissy found a job, and then I lost one. I found a job, and then she got sick and lost hers,” DeLance said.
The Mills were on the brink when things turned for the worst—they were evicted from their apartment, DeLance had lost his driver’s license, and they had few places left to turn. The Mills were homeless.
Thankfully, organizations like KEYS (Knowledge and Education for Your Success, Inc.) make it their mission to advocate for and support veterans and families that have served our nation. Just as a fellow soldier would act in the line of duty, KEYS, through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program, gives a hand up to those who have fallen.
“If a veteran has served this country and fought for our freedom, as Americans, we have the opportunity to respond and help them find stability. The SSVF program allows us to provide the necessary support to not only find housing, but also provide the services that help veterans never return to the streets again,” said Maureen O’Keefe-Hodge, KEYS Executive Director.
The Mills approached KEYS in August 2014 and received immediate assistance. They were quickly put in a hotel as KEYS worked on their personalized housing stability plan. With DeLance unemployed, KEYS paid for their housing until he returned to work 3 months later.
Now the Mills family is stable and permanently housed.
“They helped us plan out our finances, where it was going and how it was spent. Knowing that they were there and looking out for us with a guiding hand, that was a comforting feeling,” Mills said.
KEYS acts swiftly. Once they enroll the veteran into the SSVF program they connect him or her to multiple resources for mental health, legal, financial and employment services. Most importantly, they find them a permanent home.
“Many of us have never made the sacrifice to serve in the armed forces, but by helping provide a basic need to our veterans like housing, we can help entire communities become stable,” said O’Keefe-Hodge.
DeLance, now a career college graduate with a nursing license and gainful employment, could not imagine his life without the support of KEYS.
“I have no idea where we’d be if it wasn’t for them. I’m scared to think about it,” Mills said.
Few people understand the profound and immeasurable service that veterans and their families give to our country, but many of us can understand the struggle of finding our way out of troubled times. If you know a veteran or a veteran family in need of assistance, call KEYS at (909) 381-3953 or email jburnette@keysnonprofit.org
By Louis A. Penna, Communications Advisor
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