I'm thrilled to have with me now Andrew Canal. He is the CEO and founder of Houses for Warriors, a wonderful operation that decided to try and tackle homelessness in the veteran community, but now it's just turned into even so much more. Andrew, first of all, welcome back to the show.
Thanks for having me back. It's good to see you.
So let's talk for a second. If nobody's ever heard of Houses for Warriors, let's talk about how this thing got started, what the mission is, and what you've accomplished in the lifespan so far.
Yeah, I guess it all kind of starts with my story.
You know, when I got out of the military, I had two combat tours in Iraq. I survived a major rocket attack that injured a lot of people, and I really struggled with.
PTSD and.
Just controlling my emotions and not being responsible and not making responsible choices, and you know, between addiction issues and alcoholism.
You know, I was I hit rock bottom.
And I was able to get out of it through getting support and getting my disability, which I was entitled to. The whole time that I struggled, you know, I was homeless for two and a half years and just you know, in and out of a lot of turmoil and didn't have really a support network. And when I finally got support and I finally asked for help, and I.
Started changing my life. I really started.
Wanting to you know, continue my service and give back in a different way. And so, you know, when people started seeing that my life was getting better and and you know, I was becoming more.
Successful, and I got a service dog, and people, how'd you get your dog? How? You know, how did you do this? How did you get your benefits?
And I started just really helping the people that I knew that had served, and it grew there. You know, after I received a service dog and got inspired, I started going back to school and I started Houses for Warriors in twenty nineteen and and the whole purpose was to improve the quality of life for all injured and
homeless veterans. I had also been injured. I broke both in my femurs mountain biking, and it was just it was a crazy time in my life that just spiraled and went, you know deeper and deeper and darker and darker. And so to get out of that and to reclaim
my life and rebuild my life. And now I have a successful business and I'm married and we're working on kids, and you know, there's there's a lot that has changed that I never saw myself have, that I could never see myself having when when I was in it, when I was when I was struggling. And so, you know, it's been five years. We've grown way beyond how we started.
You know, we started out doing service projects, and I was just organizing construction projects for veterans that needed you know, ramps and wheelchair accessibility and new roofs or major repairs, and built the community of contractors and volunteers to do these projects. And then beyond that, you know, in twenty twenty one, during the pandemic, we started getting lots of calls looking for homes and looking for places to go. You know, people calling in the winner saying, Hey, I'm
on the street and I have nowhere to go. And so we got we got our start in the transitional housing by just getting people hotels, extended state hotels. We worked out a deal with one of the with one of the local hotels here and and really anybody that had an available room, we would and I would like raise money individually for these individuals and get them as
much support as I can. And then it got into giving them jobs with the contractors and construction, and then and and we eventually got our own transitional home in twenty twenty one. We started by leasing this house. It was a five bedroom home that we had seven beds and we were transitioning. It took a lot to start, but we ended up transitioning about fifteen, maybe eighteen veterans
to that house. And then just under about a year and a half ago, we moved into a nicer neighborhood, a nicer home that had more space, and we gave everyone their own bedroom. We learned from the first home and we decided to cut it down to four. So we've been helping four veterans at a time, about ten to twelve per year in this one home.
And you know, we're.
Getting to the point now where we've helped about thirty six veterans and the program has evolved from just providing a safe place, you know, That's how it started. It was a safe, comfortable place that had all the amenities of any group home, video games and TV streaming and all. That room has a TV and and the idea evolved into Okay, you know, let's give them new structure. You know, let's create you know, we've created house rules and chores and you know, they have to take care of their space.
And then beyond that, you know, we we raise We do a bunch of drives and raise money so that we can provide all the basic needs that they would need in that home. So their food's provided, freezer Giant thirty thirty, keep a foot freezer full of meat and food.
All the house.
Goods, toilet paper, paper products, like everything is provided so that they can really just focus on getting on their feet. We implemented a ninety day program with a mentor and a coach and a facilitator and they give us one weekend a month now where they are focused on personal growth and doing personal development workshops and professional development workshops
with their coaches in a structured environment. We're actually doing THEEDS at Redrox Community College, so they're they graciously gave us a classroom.
Space to do this, this class every.
Weekend or every a week, one weekend a month, and it's very intensive. They're they're dealing with like deep rooted programs and deep rooted money issues and trauma in and out of the military, you know, from childhood and and post military as well. So you know, it's a very
intense program. It's gotten more and more intense intensive and really just focused on the individual's needs, helping them set goals, and then having a support network and a group of people that are holding them accountable to doing what they say they're going to do, the choices that they're making, and ultimately, you know, working as a team within the home.
To support each other through through all of this.
And and it's it's been a beautiful thing to witness. We've had some tremendous results, you know, the program, it's it's working more and more as time goes on because
we're getting more experienced. We're we're altering the program as as we learn from from every veteran that goes through it, constantly making it better, constantly giving them more attention and more focus and more support, but at the same time holding them accountable to doing it themselves, you know, being responsible, making responsible choices, and and and really just we're you know, our program really combats any other other transition program out there.
You know, we're we're not just giving them a handout We've always said we're a handout, not a handout, and you know, the government's very focused on creating dependency and maybe maybe unintentionally, you know, let's.
Just say politically, I can argue about both of the policies. Yeah, no, no, I was just going to say, Andrew, this is what I love about this because one of the things that I learned throughout the years of talking to people with different kinds of programs similar to this one, and that is when you add in the responsibility piece, when you add in the sense of responsibility to the other housemates that live there, and you know, holding others accountable, those
are the kind of things that help someone build their identity, their own self worth back is because being part of the pack again and being part of a group and then being a good member of that group. I mean, that's that's a really powerful thing. How did that evolve? Did that evolve organically? Where guys were like, look, you got to pull your weight? I mean, how did that process come about?
Well, it always happens a little organically because if somebody is not pulling their weight around the house, the burden gets heavy on the other three. Having a small collaborative living environment like that if somebody leaves their dishes in the sink, there's only one of four people that can be like it, yeah, you know. So and empowering the veterans to manage their own home. You know, we we step in, we're we're constantly there. We have house meetings
every week. You know, they're required to check in with their mentors three times a week on time at the time they designate. They can renegotiate that, but but ultimately there, you know, it's a structure. And when when they're when they start falling outside of the structure, you know, it's the rest of their group finds out very quickly and and.
It it took a lot of work to get here.
You know, we actually hired an amazing facilitator. He was actually a personal mentor of mine. He you know, I went through a similar ninety day growth program that that had a different structure, but ultimately the same program that that really turned me into the man I am today. Uh, you know, and that was just within the last few years, you know, in the middle of my my journey with the nonprofit, and so.
To be able to offer it.
To them and restructure it to fit into the housing program.
It's been a major.
Void that we've filled with hiring this facilitator, and this facilitator brought an amazing team of volunteer coaches that have been through advanced personal growth work. They they've all been experienced working together. I met a lot of them. A lot of these people were at my wedding, you know, that's how close we all are. And and so, you know, getting these people involved has made a tremendous impact in the lives of the veterans that veteran the program. Currently,
we're seeing major changes in character and behavior. You know, one that there's one story in particular. He stands out because he really struggled. He had a criminal background. Unfortunately, he you know, had a really hard time getting a job when he moved here. He moved here to get away from a crowd that was holding him down and making, you know, and supporting bad choices in his life. So he took the risk, came all the way to Colorado. We helped him get here and then moved into our home.
And then just really struggled and struggled.
And you can only struggle so long, you know, with the same mindset, and it eventually really weighs on you.
And so once we implemented the ninety day program.
And we got him a mentor, we got him a coach, and we started doing these weekend seminars, he really started breaking out of his old.
Patterns and programs.
And you know, he is now doing a culinary program with another veteran organization. He's learning how to be a chef. It's a very good industry for him to be in because they a lot of the time, as long as you can cook good food and do your job and pay attention and be clean and do you know, do the job right, they don't care about.
Your history, your background, and very similar to construs.
Yeah, and so you know, we we get them, you know, we we we do our best to navigate their personal barriers and and they're all different. Everybody has a different story. You know, some people aren't ready for the type of intensive personal work that we're we're we're kind of.
Pushing them into.
And then you know, it's it's like we say, it's not just a housing program. This is a transformative, transformative program that's going to help them never be homeless again. And that's what I was getting to to, you know, the current programs out there, you know, they just create dependency, and and these guys are.
Going from program to program to program.
And and a lot of them just aren't getting any real tools or resources to change their lives.
Right, And so I can I.
Can confidently say that that Houses for Warriors, and this Warrior House program and our Warrior Resiliency Training, that ninety day program is all is actually doing that. We're actually transforming lives from the root causes of their struggles and what led them to being homeless. And we're giving them the tools and the resources and the mindset and the support really is the big one, the real support to change their lives and make different choices and start getting what they want in life.
You know, it wasn't enough for me to just get them an apartment. To help them get an apartment.
And you know, beyond that, we we also furnish those apartments. When they move out, we collect furniture and house goods and make sure that they don't need anything during this trans transition. Andrew let me, that wasn't enough for me.
I don't want to I don't want to run out of time, but I want to make sure we get to what's happening this Saturday. Tell me, first of all, what are we raising five hundred thousand dollars to do? And how how are you doing this Saturday at three?
Awesome? Thank you for asking. I can ramble.
I know I'm very passionate about this and and this, this upcoming event on to twenty two is a huge, huge milestone for our organization. We're hosting this in our in our classroom at Red Rocks Community College. It's also a hybrid event, so you can you can attend virtually and watch and share the live stream and even go live yourself.
But this is a this is a community effort.
It's about stepping up and and and volunteering and helping us raise this money.
It's it's incorporated.
Into our ninety day program with the current veterans that are there, we're going to we're going to be interviewing some of those guys and hearing their stories directly. Uh, We're going to be streaming the entire event, and and the goal is to buy a new home, a bigger, nicer home. We've we've had about a maybe for about a year and a half now, we've had a waiting list of at least four to five veterans at any given time, and we just we just you know, this
is a process. You know, it takes you know, between three and nine months to really you know, help this help these guys change and transform their lives.
And so.
You know, we just we don't have enough space and we haven't been able to just get them in and out fast enough.
You know. We we give them as.
Much time as they need typically to to transition back into an independence, uh life.
So this, this.
Fundraiser is about getting involved, making this mission your mission. It's about coming together as a community and purchasing this home. You know, obviously five hundred thousand dollars isn't enough to buy the house that we want. You know, this is we're looking at eight to ten rooms with a wreck room and a study room and and just you know, amenities for them to to really collaborate, work together, feel
comfortable and show them what's possible in their lives. And you know, in order to do you know, obviously, any donation supports us five dollars, one thousand dollars, one hundred thousand dollars.
Right, anything will help.
The goal is to get enough to put a significant down payment on a new home, you know, reduce the mortgage as much as possible by putting as much down as we can and then putting some money into our account for operations, and you know, supporting the program for the next.
Year or two.
So we have a number of ways to do this. Obviously, they can show up, help us, make calls. We're encouraging everyone to you know, call those friends and family that you know will support our mission and support housing homeless veterans. We we also encourage you to go live and share the live stream.
Mention it on the day of and share the.
Link and get people there. Like I said, we'll be interviewing veterans. We'll be interviewing some of the volunteers and the coaches that are working one on one with our vets. And there's also some naming rates opportunities as well. So if you want to really you know, kick down and and and be a big, big help for for this campaign. Help us by naming a bedroom, help us by naming that new movie room that we want to build, or the game room, or even name the house right. You know,
those are the biggest ways to support. You know, it comes with recognition and you know we'll we'll invite you to all of our graduation events. You get to meet the veterans that are that are supporting, that we're supporting, and and it's just it's gonna be a good time. We're gonna have pizza, we're gonna have volunteers, and the team uh w RT Team one is going to be
present and helping and supporting. And it's part of their ninety day growth program is to be involved and give back to those who are giving well.
I Andrew, I appreciate it. I put everything on the blog. So Andrew Knelis is my guest from Houses for Warriors. This is all happening Saturday from three to six pm, a telethon. I was going to ask you if Cherry Lewis was going to host, but I doubt it because he's old and cranky.
Now.
I also put a link to the Houses for Warriors website. If you just want to jump right there and make a donation, you can do that as well, or you can participate on Saturday, or you can make a donation big enough, or you can just give him a house if you have an eight to ten bedroom house laying around, don't know what to do with it. Just give Andrew a call and say I've got a house for you. That would be fantastic, great tax right off for you. Andrew.
I love what you're doing and I cannot wait to hear about the next house that you guys at Houses for Warriors are going to be able to open with this money.
Well, I'm looking forward to it.
I really appreciate your time and letting me share this mission, all.
Right, Andrew Canalis, thank you so much, my friend.
Thank you. Have a good day, all right.
That is Andrew Canalis with Houses for Warriors,