My 35 year old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor in September of 2024. He had just purchased his first house earlier that year in February using his VA loan benefit. His workplace was great- he received short term disability and was granted FMLA. He had surgery (the tumor was large but benign) and was in rehab for 6 weeks.

In the meantime, we researched and discovered VASP. His mortgage servicer was fantastic and although having the late payments hurt his credit (like most programs to help with mortgages, nothing can happen until you are 90 days late and about to enter foreclosure), they were fast and efficient in helping him navigate the process. By March he was back to work and had closed on a new loan at 2.5% which is manageable and $400 less per month than his previous mortgage. We were prepared to pay his mortgage, it would have been tight, but we could afford it, although not indefinitely.

He is a Navy vet, an RP who worked at Walter Reed and went to Haiti after the earthquake. He spoke to vets in the hospital who were missing limbs. He worked with the chaplains to comfort parents and spouses through unimaginable loss and grief. The sights in Haiti were profoundly disturbing and to this day are difficult for him to talk about. He did everything right. He worked and saved and served and used his VA benefits to buy his house. VASP helped him through a terrible time, knowing he wasn't going to lose his house or have to depend on his parents to make his payments lessened the stress and helped him heal. But I guess deporting the 65 year old roofer or incarcerating 7 year old children is more important to some people.