Members of the Air National Guard 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth, Minnesota, worked with other volunteers at the Habitat for Humanity Northeast Michigan ReStore in Alpena on Wednesday morning. Half the crew built ramps and railings at the ReStore, while the other half worked on prepping an Alpena house to be converted into lodging for homeless veterans.

The military members came to Alpena to run annual training exercises at the Combat Readiness Training Center, but they wanted to support the community while they were here as well.

“They reached out to me,” said Jennifer Nestell, homeownership coordinator for Habitat for Humanity Northeast Michigan. “And said they’d like to do some volunteering.”

She explained what they were doing at the ReStore.

News Photo by Darby Darby Hinkley Above, some of the visiting military volunteers at Alpena’s Habitat for Humanity ReStore construct a railing for a wheelchair ramp on Wednesday. Hinkley

“They are working on two wheelchair ramps, they’re assembling, to be installed shortly,” Nestell said. “Once we get the assembly done here, we will install them at the homeowners’ homes.”

She was amazed with their willingness to help, especially with hard labor and heavy lifting.

“This is so awesome,” Nestell added. “These guys and gals are awesome. It’s fantastic. They were very eager, and they just jumped right in.”

Nestell expressed appreciation to Thrivent Financial and the Thrivent Action Team for donating a gift card for food for the visiting military volunteers, and to Pepsi for donating drinks for the volunteers.

Military volunteers at the Habitat ReStore talked about why they volunteer.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Above, some of the visiting military volunteers gather at lunchtime on Wednesday after a morning of hard work starting the process of converting a single-family home into lodging for homeless veterans.

“For our unit, it’s part of giving back to the community,” said Marshall Talley, Senior Airman in the 148th Fighter Wing Security Forces Squadron. “We like to help out.”

He added that they volunteer for community events in Duluth on a regular basis.

“It just shows support for the community, because community is such a big support for the base,” added Talley, who is originally from Ypsilanti, Michigan.

“We do a lot of different community outreach programs,” said Staff Sergeant E5 Ricky Schiff. “We like giving back to the community, and making a firsthand impact.”

“Just making a difference,” added Airman First Class E3 Armando Barrios.

Military men who were volunteering at the veteran home site explained their task.

Master Sergeant Ben Nyen is the 148th Fighter Wing Security Forces Squadron training manager.

“On this site here, we’re doing deconstruction of a house,” Nyen said. “It’s going to be turned into a duplex for homeless veterans.”

“We’ve been taking out full walls, floors, ceilings,” said First Sergeant Kelly Jones. “We’ve been basically gutting the entire house.”

Just before noon on Wednesday, they had already filled a commercial dumpster, and the garbage truck was backing in for them to load it up again.

“These guys are super motivated,” Jones added. “We’ve got a great crew. Super energetic, ready to work. They’ve been working really hard since about 8:30 this morning.”

Nyen added that they like to fit volunteering into their training trips all over the U.S. and even in other countries.

“We’re just here for the day,” Nyen said. “We usually like to take a day to do something in the community.”

Richard Stedman owns the house that is being renovated. A disabled veteran himself, he wanted to do what he could for homeless veterans.

“We’re doing the renovation, we’re trying to create homeless veteran housing,” Stedman said. “For intermediate, so if they end up homeless, or they’re coming back from the war, or overseas, and they find themselves without a place to go, we can get them into the program.”

Stedman explained that if they get accepted into the program, the government takes over the house and controls rent.

“People are able to live here six months to a year for free, in order to take that time to get back on their feet,” Stedman said.

He and his wife Yuliana Stedman are from Pennsylvania. They are co-owners of the trucking company, Regional Valley Logistics, LLC. They decided to take the profits from their business to purchase two properties to help homeless veterans ­– one in Alpena and another in Valley View, Pennsylvania.

They also gutted and renovated another home that they previously owned on Long Rapids Road in Lachine. It is a three-bedroom house, completed in October 2021. He said they have it rented at a reduced rate of $600 per month to a disabled veteran and his family. That veteran graduated from the Support Services for Veteran Families program.

The Stedmans bought the current Alpena property from Allen Krey of Krey’s Construction, who worked with them on the price and allowed them to purchase the property on a land contract in support of their mission to help homeless veterans.

The Stedmans plan to add two more homes over the next three years.

Richard Stedman explained why they are doing these projects, adding that his wife is the strongest supporter of veterans that he knows.

“Honestly, it’s a simple thing,” he said in a text message. “If a veteran has a home for his wife and kids, he can feel pride in that, that pride can grow,” and he will be less likely to die by suicide.

“Every day I go to sleep and, on average, when I wake up, 22 of the best our country has, decided they had no other option and took their own life,” he continued. “This is what my wife and I can do to try and help.”

If you are a veteran, family member or friend of a veteran in crisis, help is available 24 hours a day by calling 988 and pressing 1. You can also text 838255.

Reach Darby Hinkley at dhinkley@thealpenanews.com, or call 989-358-5691.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)

• Daily Newsletter
• Breaking News
• Obituaries

Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

• Yes
• No