Realtors aid veterans in need with housing help

Kathleen Ricketts Hager was sitting with her late husband, Ken Hager, at the National Association of Realtors convention in 2004. Together, they watched other real estate agents receive awards for community service work. “He leaned over and said, ‘We can do better.'”

With that, Helping Our Heroes, the REALTOR Association of NorthWest Chicagoland's Charitable Foundation, was born. And when Hager suddenly passed away in 2005, the group made it a mission to take his legacy and make it into something bigger, said Ricketts Hager, who continues as chairman of the foundation's board.

Helping Our Heroes provides emergency housing-related funding to the families of soldiers and veterans in need from Illinois. Annually, the group spends between $25,000 and $35,000 to help families pay for rent, security deposits, mortgages, utility bills or other home-related costs, said Peggy Kayser, president and treasurer of Helping Our Heroes.

To raise money, the group holds about four large events and several small events each year, while also collecting donations year round.

On July 16, Helping Our Heroes and Woodstock Harley Davidson hosted their second benefit motorcycle ride. Bikers paid $25 to participate, and the event raised more than $7,000, Ricketts Hager said.

The most steady source of funds, however, comes from clothing drives, Kayser said.

A large green box sits outside of the RANWC offices at 1114 N. Arlington Heights Road, and there, people can donate old clothes, which are picked up by a company who sells the clothes to thrift shops and gives Helping Our Heroes a portion of the profits.

To receive assistance from Helping Our Heroes, one must go through an application process, starting with a three-page form found on the organization's website, Kayser said. The board of directors reviews the forms and makes selections based on need. She added that the board also asks if the applicant has received aid before.

“We're more likely to help someone who has never accepted any aid than someone who habitually applies for it,” she said.

Helping Our Heroes also sends care packages to soldiers year round. Throughout the office, piles of toiletries, nonperishable foods, books, CDs and DVDs are gathering and will soon be sent overseas.

Tracy Marquardt, care package coordinator, said collecting these items for soldiers is her passion.

“Our heroes are doing something I could never do, so I'd do anything for them,” Marquardt said.

More recently, the organization collected furniture for a veteran, who is both a single mother and homeless. After becoming eligible for Section 8 housing, the veteran was able to get an apartment with the assistance of Helping Our Heroes, who paid her security deposit, Kayser said.

With the help of Corey Heidkamp of Junk Remedies and Women In Need Getting Stronger (WINGS), the group has collected beds, dressers, tables, a sofa, a television stand and other items to furnish the apartment, Kayser said.

Bob Dohn, president of the REALTOR Association of NorthWest Chicagoland, or RANWC, said the organization gets great satisfaction from helping veterans-in-need, as well as soldiers overseas and their families back home.

“Realtors are about more than just selling houses,” he said.

Donations can be made online through the Helping Our Heroes website.

Want to lend a hand?

Helping Our Heroes has the following event:

• Pizza fundraiser, where 20 percent of all proceeds will be donated to Helping Our Heroes, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19, Gulliver's Pizza, 4520 Lake Ave., in Glenview.