Program helps reunite family of wounded soldier - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Program helps reunite family of wounded soldier

The last thing Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Romulo Camargo needed to worry about was selling his house, but he knew his family had to be with him as he recovered from a gunshot wound to the neck.

So when one of his advocates at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Fla., told him about the expanded Homeowners Assistance Program, he applied.

“That program was a godsend. It really took a lot of stress off my shoulders,” said Camargo, who was shot in the back of the neck in Afghanistan in 2008, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. He has been recovering at the VA hospital since a few months after the attack and needed to sell his house near Fort Bragg, N.C., so that his family could move to Tampa.

Wounded warriors get first priority under HAP, which was expanded Sept. 30 to help troops forced to sell their homes in a bad market because of military-related moves.

Service members must have been wounded, injured or sickened in the line of duty since Sept. 11, 2001, be 30 percent or more disabled and, as a result, be reassigned — either for medical retirement, rehabilitation or medical treatment. They also must have owned the home at the time of the deployment during which they were disabled.

Wounded warriors also have fewer restrictions than others who are eligible for HAP assistance.

“We’re requiring everyone else to bring a buyer to the table,” HAP program manager Ilse Merryman said.

But wounded warriors “just apply and we take care of them. It’s one less thing for them to be stressed and worried about.”

Camargo said he submitted his application in mid-November, and “HAP immediately sent a letter of approval.”

“Once they gave me an approval letter, they took over and I didn’t have to worry about it,” he said. “I could concentrate on my rehab.”

‘We basically broke even’

He never had to return to Fort Bragg. In fact, he and his wife, Gabriela, never had to even put the house on the market.

Gabriela has had her hands full helping him and taking care of their 2½-year-old son Andress and 14-year-old daughter Alina, he said. “She had no time to put the house on the market or even worry about it.”

They had bought the home for $128,000, and “we basically broke even,” Camargo said. “HAP paid off the mortgage.”

In turn, they could buy a house in the Tampa area. “When you’re severely wounded like I am, the best thing is to stay near the hospital, with the same docs,” he said.

As of March 4, only 61 wounded warriors had applied for HAP assistance; 20 have been paid benefits, Merryman said. The others are in various stages of the process. The overwhelming majority of HAP applications — 7,000 so far — are for those affected by permanent change-of-station moves.

Officials are trying to get word out to more wounded warriors through Warrior Transition Units, command sergeants major and other means, Merryman said. For example, a briefing was scheduled for the week of March 8 at the Fort Campbell, Ky., WTU, she said.

Camargo said he hopes officials can reach out to more wounded warriors. “There are a lot of families here who are interested in this program,” he said.