The Orchid Gala, a dinner held annually by Villagers for Veterans, raised $78,500 for Ashley’s House, the organization’s mission to build a transitional house for homeless women veterans in Eustis.
“It was a great night, and we had some very, very generous people,” said Villagers for Veterans founder and president Marie Bogdonoff. “They loved the cause and can appreciate the need for it.”
Bogdonoff, of the Village of Pine Ridge, said the event, now in its eighth year, drew approximately 200 people. It was a lesser turnout than in previous years, which she ascribed to COVID-19 concerns.
However, Bogdonoff believes that the comments of a guest speaker, Medea Evans Piles, an Army veteran who discussed her experiences as a homeless person, and a film that helped explain the situation, inspired people to help.
In the short video clip, Piles and several female veterans discuss how they started to feel apprehensive and neglected after leaving the military, particularly if they had been targets of military sexual assault, and how many homeless female veterans are “underground” in societal structure because they don’t fully understand where to turn for help, as one put it.
The money raised at the banquet will go toward the cost of construction, according to Bogdonoff.
The property, which is approximately one acre in size, was purchased by Villagers for Veterans earlier this year.
The concept plans for a two-story, six-bedroom home that will be able to accommodate up to six women. According to Bogdonoff, it’s at a location with easy access to major roadways, public transportation, employment and educational prospects, as well as other amenities. The project is expected to cost between $300,000 and $350,000, according to her estimates.
The group has earned nearly $153,000 for the home through the Orchid Gala and another fund-raising event in Mount Dora in April.
“We still need to do fundraising, but we’re about halfway there, and that’s a really good place to be,” Bogdonoff said.
Meetings with local authorities and executives from Habitat for Humanity, whose supporters will start building the home, will be the next step, she noted.
More fundraising events are planned for the months ahead.
While Ashley’s House is off to a solid start, Bogdonoff stated that additional funds will be required to complete the home, supply landscaping and assist in the establishment of a monthly budget for its upkeep.
The project is named after Ashley White-Stumpf, a U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant who was killed in action in Afghanistan in October 2011 by an improvised explosive device.
Bogdonoff stated that she wanted the development to be named after someone who might inspire the community.
White-Stumpf was a member of the Army Medical Corps. She was assigned to Afghanistan with an Army Rangers unit as part of a Cultural Support Team, which were small groups of women troops assigned to special operations forces, according to the Army. Their job was to communicate with Afghan women and children, providing medical care as needed and questioning or searching them if necessary.
When another soldier stomped on an IED, a sequence of explosions went off, killing White-Stumpf. At a time when women were still forbidden from combat, she was the first CST woman to die in battle.