CLEVELAND — Blood, sweat and tears is the labor of love it took to make a house a home for veterans like Ronnie Leeth.
“I feel empowered because you know what, not too many people want to give us a chance,” said Ronnie Leeth.
For years, Leeth has been looking for housing but hadn’t had any luck.
“It was horrific,” said Leeth. “It was very hard because my background, the backgrounds that I had, and my addiction and mental health it was very difficult to find stable housing.”
Now, Leeth along with three others will reside in this home after multiple local agencies saw a growing problem in their community.
“We serve distress veterans and single mothers that are rising out of homelessness,” said DNA Rising President, Danielle Acosta.
For more than 11 months, Acosta, Leeth and LaToya Smith, who also have been best friends for more than 30 years, brought a dream they collectively shared to life.
One that means Ronnie and those other veterans will now be able to live in this Cleveland home.
“For someone to reach out and actually help us, people talk about it but to actually reach out and help us and open up a door for us, that’s powerful,” said Leeth.
Through a collective effort, they spent around $60,000 to renovate the home.
“This specific project when it comes to renovating the homes is called the Foundation of Home,” said Acosta.
Inspiration for the project’s name came from their organization, DNA Rising.
The group’s goal is to help a distressed population of people in situations where they’re recovering from drugs and alcohol, or coming home from being incarcerated, find stable housing.
“We just consider your home and where you come from and where you live as such a massive part of who you are as a person that it’s almost like genetic code,” said Acosta.
The home is still a work in progress, but these women are hopeful they can give these veterans the greatest gift just in time for Christmas.
“For them to actually come out and help and risk their time and their energy to do this for somebody they have no clue on who they are, that’s very important. That shows a lot of love,” said Leeth.
If you’re interested in donating, you’re encouraged to email dnarising.org@gmail.com.
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