Reno businessmen R.G. Smith and James Helsel hope to get disabled veterans into abandoned homes in the region.
They're putting together a nonprofit group that would seek donations of foreclosed homes from lenders and make them available at a cost of $500 a month to disabled veterans who agree to help fix up homes for other disabled veterans.
Helsel is president of Helsel Construction Operations Inc., and Smith is a real estate agent who also oversees operations of Nevada Property Maintenance.
The challenge, Smith acknowledges, will be convincing financial institutions to donate homes they've taken back through foreclosure.
The nonprofit, called "Project Compassion," would coordinate monthly payments by disabled veterans and would bring volunteers to remodel homes to meet their needs. A volunteer board of business people is being assembled by Helsel and Smith to oversee Project Compassion.