Not all Surviving Spouses get a “free house”

Prompted because someone (who has seen the commercials) said I was so "lucky" Jay died while serving since there are charities that would make sure I have a home.

 Let me start by saying I absolutely love what Tunnels to Towers have done for many widows/widowers of Military personnel and First Responders.

 The follow-up to that statement is:

I am NOT one of those widows. At the time of Jay's death, the free home/mortgate payoff program was only for widows of Killed in Action(KIA) or Killed in the Line of Duty for First responders and you had to have small children at home. It is my understanding that they have changed the program to be more inclusive since then.

Most charities only covered Active Duty who had physical trauma, TBI, or PTSD or were KIA (combat-related). Jay was an Activated Tennessee National Guard who died of Cancer caused by Toxic Exposure from his Active Duty Army Service deployment in Afghanistan then compounded by Military Medical Malpractice. 95% of the charities of the time would not help me because "we" did not meet their qualifications. I took most of the remaining life insurance since Jay took 1/2 as an advance on insurance when he found out he was terminal to pay for his bucket list and bought my home and then paid for almost every major system (AC, water heater, sink, paint, sprinkler system...etc.) to be replaced or repaired. There is a list of minor things that still needs to be done. This was done with the money from the life insurance that Jay and I paid for with every paycheck.

Before Jay joined, I had a much larger life insurance policy for him through my work but once Jay joined the Army we had to switch to the Army Life insurance since my insurance would not cover him as a soldier. I now work my butt off to make sure all the taxes, fees, and utilities are paid and those costs are going up.

No matter who paid/pays for my home, I would gladly give it all to have my husband back at my side.