by William Skink

Every now and then I check 4&20 Blackbirds just for the heck of it, and I’m glad I did today. A post a wrote back in June of 2015 received some new comments that I find quite interesting, but before I get to that, a little background.

I titled the original post with a question: a new shelter for Vets or an expensive scam? Multiple comments over the subsequent years seem to point to serious problems with this non-profit. Here are some examples:

Steve: I personally know that Jason Stevens left Omak, WA owing people money. He appears to be a man with big ideas and little follow-through. I have a $10,000 promissory note from him, which he has made no effort to repay. If he is involved, hold onto your wallet. I will be making a trip to Whitefish to look Jason up and try to collect on my debt. I am sure I am not the only one he left scammed in Washington.

Publius: As a former resident of glacier hope homes I can attest to the fact that Stevens requires disabled veterans to do labor that they are not physically able to do in order to pay for their housing. Also, when vets pay out of pocket for gasoline to shuttle vets to appointments they are not paid back. Vets also are required to pay in part for their food.

Washing Ton: Jason Stevens is not a “rags to riches” success story. This man has had umpteen businesses in Washington all of which ended up utter failures. His previous group home in Omak was utterly filthy and the two residents were not well cared for. It was a flop house for his family and a chronic alcoholic/drug user. The reason why he became “homeless” is because the man who rented the house out to him and invested in his business scams became enraged after Jason owed him over $10,000 and had no way to pay it. He then ran away to Montana to stay with his grandson’s ex girlfriend who was a single mother. During his “stay” he did attempt to find work because he was too busy concocting more business scams. He was told to leave after a few months and then began staying in the homeless shelters. He now has his grandson building cabins for him who is a convicted thief in Washington and still has three active warrants. He also has other troubled family members staying there and working with the residents. Although the idea for the program is fantastic, Jason is not an honest man and this business should be heavily scrutinized.

Angry vet 88: This program is a hoax. Jason Stevens and his grandson Michael Hicks are both using the veteran named to fill their pockets. I know this personally as I was involved with them for about six months recently until I saw the corruption first-hand. Neither one of these guys are veterans nor do they care about our veteran community. I have heard this expressed to me first-hand by Jason Stevens himself. I have listened to him complain about our veterans and threatened to turn the ranch into rental property for the profit of himself his family and his Rich private investors. As a superintendent out there I’ve personally witnessed finances being filtered through the grandson before it went to trades that earned the money. There was also a fish market that was going on to support the program which was ran into the ground by his grandson and profits not distributed throughout the program. If I had to guess and it would be an educated one. Every cent went into the boys pocket. Stolen Valor my friends.

I had read these comments previously, but they are not the reason I am writing this post. The reason I think renewed scrutiny should be directed at Glacier Hope Homes is a recent comment, posted February 10th, 2017, by “Social Media Support @ G.H.H.”.

I did a little digging at Glacier Hope Homes, and I think the comment posted a few weeks ago came from Janette Nelson, G.H.H.’s Social Media Manager. If you want to know a little more about Janette before reading her comment, here is the bio from Glacier Hope Home’s website:

Janette Nelson is married to Jonathan Leal, a Veteran. They have two dogs that are like children to them. Janette has completed two Degrees from Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) – one in Culinary Arts and the other as a Patient Relation Specialist. Jonathan and Janette have lived in the Flathead Valley for 30 Years and are members of the American Legion in Columbia Falls. Ms. Nelson is new to supporting Glacier Hope Homes but cannot wait to help out wherever needed. She is currently working as Social Media Manager.

I wouldn’t take the step of providing this kind of information about Janette were it not for the following comment. If Glacier Hope Homes is actually providing appropriate, confidential services for Veterans, great. This comment (1 of 4, I should add), if it actually came from the Social Media Manager at G.H.H., is incredibly problematic. Here it is:

Social Media Support @ G.H.H.: Amidst a time of true controversy in this country, we don’t need people, mainly angry and disgruntled veterans who did not adhere to the programs standards, and were dismissed or voluntarily left because they needed to drug or drink. Most of the adversity towards Glacier Hope Homes is coming from recent ex donors, residents or a combination of them both.

Glacier Hope Homes has been visited by regulating authorities on regular basis. Not only are they providing an excellent service to the veterans who need it, but they are currently expanding to house more veterans as they plan to take this incredible model for homeless veterans National. The naysayers and outright liars in these comments are being politically and financially motivated by rogue entities who wish nothing better than to cause mayhem within the Glacier Hope Homes Organization. A 501(c)3 Nonprofit organization.

The aforementioned individuals have done nothing to help America’s Homeless Veterans. While our Board Members vote on everything that goes on and Jason Stevens is constantly being criticized for living like a King while the Veterans pay for his lifestyle is the most outrageous and irresponsible outlook on this Organization.

Many of the aforementioned are mentally ill in one capacity or another and they make up the wildest stories about the on goings and operations at G.H.H., a standalone veteran’s shelter which does a tremendous service to the community by taking in Homeless Veterans. Housing,Feeding, Mental Health Professionals are on board, Staff in many capacities to include but not limited to are: Volunteers, Mental Health professionals,Marketing and Sales Professionals, Social Media staff, Equine and Farm Care. Some of these positions are filled by qualified veterans, that live on the nearly self sufficient 30 acre Farm in Columbia Falls.

We invite any guest to our property to see for themselves what goes on here. Each of them leaves not only pleasantly surprised, but also asking how they can contribute.

The 30 Acre Ranch has Horses,Cows,Chickens,Ducks,Turkeys and very happy,. very well cared for Veterans who need our services.
Posting this kind of pessimistic, negative press about people that are doing so much and have such good intentions for each veteran charged to our care is despicable.

You’re nothing but a bunch of psychotic,druggie,alcoholic disgruntled and discharged veterans and bad businessmen who had ill intentions for your donations to our organization and lack of control of our daily organizational functions. That’s what we have Board Members for. That’s what we have a staff for. Our donors who have gone rogue on us in the past, have no say, nor any authority to determine, who we house or hire onto our staff.
So, since this Blog began in 2015, it is now 2 years later, and GlacierHopeHomes.Org is still here. We are getting better and better at what we do, with each passing day.

And with a little less negativity, we should be able to accomplish our goals.
Now, go back and hide under a rock somewhere. Shame on you! You’ve none nothing to deal with these veterans on a daily basis.

And just to clear the air, our veterans live here and are cared for for nearly free. Those that are on SSI, Disability or has a source of income are asked to pay $80.00 per month towards their food costs. That is It! That $80.00 per month is nowhere near the actual cost that it takes to facilitate the needs of the veterans charged to our care. Resort? This is not Disneyland. But what is wrong with providing clean,safe housing to America’s veterans. That is one of the distinguishable factors that sets G.H.H. apart from the typical homeless shelters around the country. That is the design of our Mission and our Vision. To have Veterans Present,Past and Future living in par standard society, while working on their goals, living out their dreams and reconvening a normal life in the United States of America!

But our adversaries would rather they live in dumps and roach and pest infested housing and discarded to the side as misfits!

What is wrong with providing upper scale housing to America’s Veterans? They deserve it! They don’t need more of the same old poor treatment, low standard,low quality, low wages and alienation!

They have room to grow here. They are treated with dignity and respect. They come and go when they please. If they don’t have transportation, we provide it for them. We’re not running any kind of Scam here folks.

Currently, with the loss of one of our donors, it has been a setback. But we are resilient,resourceful and determined to make the Mission and the Vision a success.

So again, you are welcomed to come out and tour our place anytime you’d like. We’re sure you’ll be pleased with what you see currently going on.
The new construction in phase 2 is a little shy of completion. We are asking the public and corporate sectors for contributions to help us with construction costs and labor.

Thank you

Our GoFundMe account is:
https://www.gofundme.com/GlacierHopeHomes

In Phase 3 G.H.H. has plans to build even further on the farm to house as many as 500 more homeless veterans from around Montana and the Nation.

If you have no positive words or contributions about G.H.H. on the internet, Shut your Mouth! You are only hurting veterans who do need our services,support and Love.

A few suggestions. If this comment is from paid staff at Glacier Hope Homes, that staff should be fired immediately. This person is either under the influence of something, or completely incompetent. I would also suggest maybe a reporter or veterans advocacy group look into this non-profit. The accusations are anonymous, but they claim first-had knowledge.

I would not have caught this original story had it not been for a tweet from @Lgpguin almost 2 years ago, so thank you for being curious about this initial story, “Missoula, mostly”. And I would not be writing this now were it not for some incredibly unprofessional commentary from someone allegedly involved with this organization. So thank you, whoever you are. I’m so intrigued I’m going to be making a few calls tomorrow. Stay tuned…