Lincoln Woman Opens Home To Veterans

Staff Photo PAT HARRIS Alice McKeever, right, went through a yearlong process with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Foster Care Program in order to offer her house to a military veteran who did not have a family. She currently has a Vietnam veteran living at her home. Friend Hannah Burgess encouraged and helped McKeever get though the process.
Staff Photo PAT HARRIS Alice McKeever, right, went through a yearlong process with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Foster Care Program in order to offer her house to a military veteran who did not have a family. She currently has a Vietnam veteran living at her home. Friend Hannah Burgess encouraged and helped McKeever get though the process.

Alice McKeever was 10 years old when her oldest brother, Sgt. Forest Embry, 23, was killed in the Korean Conflict in the early 1950s. That loss is one of the reasons she is passionate about veterans' issues and currently is enrolled in a Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks program called the Medical Foster Home Program.

"I come from a family of veterans," McKeever said, adding husband Earl is a veteran. "This is where my heart lies. If my brother had come back from Korea, I hope someone out there would have enough compassion in their hearts to do this for him."

Fast Facts

Medical Foster Homes

• Medical foster homes are private homes in which a trained caregiver provides services.

• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs inspects and approves all medical foster homes.

• Medical foster homes have a trained caregiver on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Medical foster homes are not provided or paid for by the VA. The veteran must pay for the medical foster home himself.

— Source: va.gov/geriatrics

McKeever spent a year going through the VHSO's process so she could open her home to a veteran. Today a Vietnam veteran lives with the McKeevers thanks to Alice McKeever's resolve.

"I was determined if at all possible I would do this," McKeever said. "If I couldn't do anything for my brother, I could care for someone else's loved one."

McKeever is not allowed to give the veteran's name due to VA rules. Neither could he be interviewed; however, McKeever said the Vietnam veteran who lives with the couple is "like a member of our family."

"I fix him what he would like to eat. He's very easygoing, sits at the table with us, we visit, drink coffee and laugh together," McKeever said. "We also give him his privacy."

"This is a private-public partnership that the Fayetteville VA has supported for nine years -- and it works," said Dr. Michael Stracener, VHSO program coordinator. "Veterans purchase the care, and they are the boss. They live in a home setting with VA trained caregivers, enjoy family birthdays, holidays and life events in a setting that is inspected, monitored and supervised by the Fayetteville VA."

Each medical foster home can have up to three veterans, according to Stracener.

"I hope to have two more veterans eventually," said McKeever, adding she would take either male or female residents.

"We can never pay back the debt to the men and women who have served for our country," McKeever said. "We shouldn't have veterans living on streets or under bridges. We should provide a service for those who have served."

With the help of her friend, Hannah Burgess, McKeever made it through the long approval process.

"I told Hannah I thought I would look into the program," McKeever said. "She has been my rock through life. She knew how much I wanted to do this and gave me support." The process included being cleared by the FBI and having her home inspected.

"A lot of people couldn't to this," said Burgess about McKeever's opening her home to a veteran. "It takes a gift."

It also helped that McKeever had worked in health care for years.

"I've worn different hats when working in health care, but if I had a veteran as a patient, I was really into that. But this is the most rewarding experience I've had in health care."

McKeever said a nursing staff and dietitian do come in to help.

"The VA is very much hands on," McKeever said. "They work with us. If I have a question, someone is there to answer."

The Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks has eight approved medical foster homes currently serving 11 veterans in Arkansas, according to Stracener.

"Veterans are served all throughout the Northwest Arkansas region, including in Lincoln, Farmington, Siloam Springs, Bella Vista and Springdale," said Stracener, adding the Medical Foster Home Program was originally started in 2002 at the Little Rock VA by Tom McClure, so it has its roots in Arkansas.

Today, there are 104 VA medical foster home programs in 45 U.S. states and territories with more than 500 foster homes serving veterans.

NAN Life on 07/16/2014

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