'Freedom' Lawn Care Offers Path to Stability for Veterans

Yard work and snow removal may not seem like the American dream, but for David West, a veteran, it’s a start.

West, 39, dreamed of serving in the military ever since he was a child.

“That’s my calling, that’s what I do; it’s kind of hard to explain,” says West, who’s wearing an Army baseball cap decorated with several pins and an Afghanistan sweatshirt with the sleeves pushed up — revealing some of his tattoos that show military pride. They read: "No fear," "sniper" and "Death Before Dishonor."

He served for more than 12 years in the Army as an E8 Master Sgt. and four years with Army contracted companies like Blackwater.

But last year, the two-time Purple Heart recipient ran into some complications and found himself without a home. He found out about the Kent Freedom House and was accepted as a resident in the program, which gives veterans a place to stay while they try to get back on their feet.

“My dream job is to get back into the military or in law enforcement,” West says, and the Freedom House is helping him get there.

The Freedom House is a transitional center that seeks to provide veterans with temporary housing, job assistance and help finding permanent housing in addition to other support services. The Freedom House opened
in 2008 as part of the of Portage County.

One of the Freedom House’s programs is Freedom Lawn Care Services. Supervisor Brian White, 26, says the company was started “two years ago with two guys and two push mowers.”

The company has a client list of 35 commercial and residential properties in the county, including the Portage Metro Housing Authority and Main Street Kent, in addition to maintaining other Family and Community Services properties.

Freedom Lawn Care and removes snow. The company even painted Ravenna’s City Hall, though White says the company is more than landscaping.

“It’s a job training program,” says White, a veteran who found himself the victim of factory downsizing until he found a job at the Freedom House. “We don’t pay them a lot of money, but it gets them back on their feet.

White admits it’s tough, though. Some veterans have past criminal records and some are struggling with very difficult issues.

West, Ray Morgan and Dustin Szarell acknowledged this and were grateful to be mowing 19 lawns Wednesday, an unusually warm day for Oct. 5.

Morgan, the 44-year-old crew leader, can’t say enough good things about Kent Freedom House, so he decided to fill out sheet of white paper with good things to say while I took pictures of the lawn crew.

“When I came to Freedom House, I had nothing,” writes Morgan, who served in the Navy for one year. “I was homeless, going from one treatment center to another for seven years and in and out of homeless shelters. I got my license, a (donated) truck, a job and a place in 11 months, something I couldn’t do in seven years on my own.”

Morgan writes the staff members are people “to model your life after.” His is starting to take shape; he just got his Chemical Dependency Counselor Assistant license.

“I want to help people not go through the same thing I went through with drug addiction and alcoholism with my counselor’s license,” he says, adding he couldn’t have achieved any of this without the Freedom House.

To be eligible for hire, candidates must stay or complete the program and find permanent housing, he says. Freedom Lawn Care Services employs eight veterans part-time.

White says he wants to help more veterans through Freedom Lawn Care Service, which he describes as a small business. Like any small business, it’s going to take time to grow. But White has big dreams.

“I hope one day Freedom Lawn Care can employ millions of veterans,” he says. “I don’t (know) why it couldn’t be the largest landscaping company in Ohio. With the other shelters opening in Lorain and Summit counties, it’s only going to help us and get our name out there.”

In the process, the company is also helping veterans get closer to realizing and achieving their own American dreams.