County Veteran Service Officers ensure local veterans stay safe during storms

THREE RIVERS, Mich. -- The EF-2 tornado in Three Rivers on Friday was even more powerful than the one that swept through Edwardsburg.

Among all the damaged homes and businesses was an apartment building that's home to some US Military veterans, who are now temporarily homeless.

"No veteran left behind" is a popular phrase, and one that's taken very seriously. That motto was put into action in Three Rivers in the past few days.

Friday's storms and tornado sent Myia Bradford and her husband David scrambling. The roof over their heads, now partially in their backyard.

"We knew they were going to need a place to go, it was just a matter of tracking them down through the chaos, and finding out where they were at, social media came in handy, and we were able to track them down. Fortunately, it's a small community, especially the veteran community so most veterans know other veterans throughout the area, so we were able to track them down, find them, and made sure they had a safe place to go," said Jarrod Phillips, Veterans Service Officer for St. Joseph County.

Phillips, an Army veteran himself, and another veteran services officer sprang into action, making sure the Bradfords would have a place to stay for as long as they needed.

Bradford and her husband are grateful beyond words.

"It was a relief to have them there, because I think it helped me process it a little bit easier, because knowing that I had somewhere to go, and knowing that I have them, because they're helping me through all of this," said Myia Bradford.

While we don't know yet how soon the Bradfords will be able to get back into their apartment, one thing we do know is that Phillips and the other VSOs will be with them every step of the way.

"The veterans around here, we help each other out, without a doubt. I have a 94-year-old veteran, and I have 35-year-old veterans volunteering to mow their grass because they can't afford to have someone come mow their grass and a 100-year-old world war two veteran doesn't need to be out mowing his grass. We have volunteers, other veterans volunteer to help, and that's just the way it is," said Phillips.

With Bradford suffering occasional seizures, and having previously experienced homelessness, she says this situation could have been infinitely worse without the local VSOs.

"It would've been very traumatic because I wouldn't have had anywhere to go, and I would be homeless right now, and I'd be alone, I mean I have family and I have friends and everything like that that are being very supportive but it's a different type of connection, veterans are a different type of community," said Bradford.

Phillips tells ABC57 one of the main things his organization takes pride in is ensuring there are no homeless veterans in St. Joseph County.