Eric Snelz, CEO/Executive Director of Helping Hands for Freedom, and Jewish War Veterans Post 619 welcome the community to learn how veterans in need can receive emergency funds to help with household payments. Anyone interested in learning about how to help veterans is welcome to all JWV meetings. Membership is not required.
Nancy Stutman
Eric Snelz, CEO/Executive Director of Helping Hands for Freedom (HHFF), will address the Jewish War Veterans Copper State Post 619 on Sunday, Jan. 18, in Ballroom A of the Oakwood Country Club, 24218 S. Oakwood Blvd., Sun Lakes. Complimentary lox, bagels, donuts, and coffee will be served at 9:30 a.m., with the speaker at 10 a.m.
Financial assistance is based on needs that arise from financial hardships faced when the veteran’s immediate family is experiencing a dramatic life change, including job loss, medical emergency, facing multiple deployments, a member killed in action, or suffering from injuries received in the line of duty.
For the past 17 years, Helping Hands for Freedom’s mission is to provide emergency financial assistance to keep the family in the home. This includes the veteran, spouse, or Gold Star family member asking for assistance with rent/mortgage, insurance, vehicle, and utility payments.
Gold Star families are those surviving family members of a fallen soldier, along with veterans who suffer from PTSD. Emergency financial assistance is offered to military families with at least one child 18 or under currently living at home. “In the past 10 years, we have raised just over $4 million to provide the help these families need,” states Snelz. Over 200 requests for help are received monthly.
Life enrichment experiences for children, parents, and spouses include lunches for Gold Star spouses and mothers, attendance at sports events, amusement parks, wildlife parks, and other entertainment options.
Eric Snelz joined the HHFF board in 2012 and became CEO/Executive Director in 2017. His interest in Helping Hands for Freedom was fueled by his son’s experience as a United States Marine who served two tours in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011. His son returned with a traumatic brain injury and PTSD, which exposed Eric to the difficulties and challenges experienced by returning veterans and their families. His service as a board member connected him with Gold Star families who had suffered the loss of a loved one because of combat or post-service suicide.
Eric, with decades of experience in marketing and sales, has worked in corporate America with a Fortune 500 company as well as recent entrepreneurial ventures. As the CEO of HHFF, he brings his expertise in marketing and the digital arena to increase awareness of the families of the fallen, wounded, and deployed. In 2015 Helping Hands for Freedom received the Lincoln Award at the Southwest Veterans Chamber of Commerce’s Patriot’s Ball in Tempe, Ariz. This award is presented to a veterans’ advocacy organization making outstanding contributions and supporting military families.
Eric is the recipient of the Mark Ashby Civilian Service Award for service to the military and veteran community. He has also received an award from MOPH (Military Order of the Purple Heart) for Exemplary Service to Veterans. In 2015 JWV Post 619, which meets on the third Sunday of every month from September to June, boasts members who represent a wide range of religious affiliations and participates in philanthropic activities to help veterans of all faiths. To learn more about JWV activities and membership, contact Arthur Uram at 702-884-4175 or uramarthur@gmail.com.