Fresh off a legislative victory to provide preference to disabled veterans when they bid for state government contracts, Reno businessmen R.G. Smith and James Helsel hope to get disabled veterans into abandoned homes in the region.
They're putting together a nonprofit group that would seek donations of foreclosed homes from lenders and make them available at a cost of $500 a month to disabled veterans who agree to help fix up homes for other disabled veterans.
The nonprofit dubbed "Project Compassion" matches the skills of Helsel, the president of Helsel Construction Operations Inc., with Smith, a real estate agent who also oversees operations of Nevada Property Maintenance.
The challenge, Smith acknowledges, will be convincing financial institutions to donate homes they've taken back through foreclosure. His pitch: Banks can get a tax deduction and a windfall of good publicity through a donation, and they can get a liability off their books.
The nonprofit, which Helsel expects to have in full operation by late autumn, would coordinate monthly payments by disabled veterans and would bring volunteers to remodel homes to meet their needs. Participants would be at least 30 percent disabled and have a minimum annual income of $12,000.
A volunteer board of business people is being assembled by Helsel and Smith to oversee Project Compassion.
Smith and Helsel were emboldened to launch the new nonprofit after they successfully lobbied the Legislature to provide a 7 percent preference to disabled veterans who bid for state contracts.
Gov. Jim Gibbons signed that measure into law on June 8.
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