From housing to health care, Alabama’s Rod Lemon Foundation is transforming veterans’ lives

Months ago, the home of Pelham resident R. Roman was in such a state of disrepair that he didn’t feel it was safe for him or his children. The house’s roof was leaking, and overgrown trees were damaging nearby power lines. His home’s HVAC system and refrigerator weren’t working and Roman was grappling with plumbing problems and a water main leak that was leading to monthly water bills of more than $300.

As a disabled Army veteran and single father of two children, ages 6 and 15, Roman couldn’t afford to make all the necessary repairs.

“I was at risk of losing everything,” he said. “With the condition that my house was in, I could have easily lost my kids.”

But the Rod Lemon Foundation refused to let that happen. Thanks to the Anniston-based organization, Roman’s roof, plumbing and water main were all repaired. The foundation got him and his family a new refrigerator and HVAC system too.

“They stepped up and got everything done, and they got it done in less than 60 days,” Roman said.

Roman is just one of the hundreds of veterans that the Rod Lemon Foundation has served through its Transcend 214 program (the program’s name references the military’s DD Form 214 that marks the transition to civilian life). Home repairs only scratch the surface of all that Transcend 214 offers. The program focuses primarily on mental health and suicide prevention, helping veterans get the mental health care services and medication they need.

Though based in Anniston, the Rod Lemon Foundation serves veterans throughout Alabama.

“We don’t turn anyone away,” said Shamika White, executive director of RLF. Even if someone reaches out with a need that falls outside the mission of RLF, White and her team will help connect the person with the proper resources.  “We have worked really hard to build a phenomenal network of other nonprofits and other VSO providers,” White said.

Additionally, the Rod Lemon Foundation hosts a variety of community outreach programs such as financial literacy, credit repair and home buyer workshops. Each year RLF also hosts an event called Eliminate Hunger in Our Community.

“We provide a week’s worth of groceries to the homeless, elderly and veterans in our area,” White said. Other organizations have also participated in the event to offer health screenings, vaccinations and free cell phones. The event typically serves more than 100 residents.

“We’re really hoping to make that a bigger event every year,” White said.

A pivot of purpose

The Rod Lemon Foundation was founded in 2014 to help underrepresented youth in Calhoun County. White took the helm in 2023 with a vision for helping veterans too.

“We have a veteran population of over 10,000 veterans in the county,” she said.

She pitched the Transcend 214 program to address veteran homelessness.

“Our founder is a 100% combat-disabled veteran, and two of our board members are veterans, so when I pitched the program, everybody was on board and Transcend 214 was started,” White said.

But White wanted to be sure the program was providing veterans what they needed most. After an enlightening town hall meeting, the program pivoted to focus mostly on mental health.

“What we do is we bring education to veterans about programs outside of the VA,” White said. “The VA mental health program is fantastic for some veterans, but other veterans don’t necessarily feel like they fit into that one-size-fits-all box.”

For example, VA mental health programs typically focus on cognitive behavioral or talk therapy, White said.

“A lot of combat trauma veterans, or veterans that have MST (military sexual trauma), are not necessarily comfortable talking about their trauma repeatedly in order to heal,” she said.

Therefore, Transcend 214 introduces veterans to other options such as accelerated resolution therapy and GeneSight testing.

“GeneSight allows a veteran to take a buccal swab, and within 24 to 48 hours, they have a list of psychotropic medications that will or will not work for them,” White said.  “So they’re able to take that list back to the VA; they can compare their medication and then advocate for themselves.”

White believes the home repairs also aid in mental health.

“We’re trying to reduce stressors,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Rod Lemon Foundation continues to serve youth through scholarships for current college students with a major in business or nursing, current college students of an HBCU who are either active military or a military dependent, or high school graduates and equivalent earners who have been accepted into a post-secondary program with a system-affected parent.

RLF also organizes a variety of community enrichment activities with the objective of bringing families together, encouraging parental engagement and sharing resources to help young people with emotional development, making good choices, school success, improved health and health care, and positive plans and skills for the future.

As for the future of the Rod Lemon Foundation, the organization has acquired a 216-acre undeveloped plot near the former site of Fort McClellan with plans of this area becoming the site of veteran-specific camping retreats that will offer outdoor activities as well as alternative therapies for veterans, such as equine therapy and sound therapy.

Though the organization has received a few small grants through the years, RLF operates primarily on private donations. The foundation has used crowdfunding to raise money and has received pledges from Christian music artists Crystle Lee and Will Thiery.

Roman urges potential donors to consider supporting smaller organizations like the Rod Lemon Foundation.

“Some of the bigger organizations that are raking in millions of dollars a year, they all slammed their doors in my face,” Roman said. “I encourage everybody and anybody to reach out to their local veteran organizations to see how they could be of more help. A little bit of funding their way could definitely save lives.”

To learn more about the Rod Lemon Foundation, visit rodlemonfoundation.org or call 256-405-9016.