Judy Harter knows first hand the notorious obstacles the Veterans Administration puts in front of veterans just to see a doctor.
She's dating a Vietnam veteran who suffers from the effects of Agent Orange and regularly wades through the bureau's mandates and minimums.
So when she noticed there were veterans with a specific need – a wheelchair – she decided that instead of trying to go through the system, she would take care of it herself.
But then she saw another need and then another, leading to the establishment of a nonprofit organization called All From The Heart.
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So far, she and her Temecula, California-based charity have given more than 200 wheelchairs to veterans. The chairs are donated by families who no longer need them and refurbished for about $300 a piece.
"Our first chair, he was in a really bad place. He was stuck in the VA; he was living there. He wasn't getting any occupational or physical therapy. Paralyzed from the neck down. Just wants to sleep through the night," Harter told WND.
"We got him a power chair that had all the bells and whistles. His whole life changed. He dresses and is out and about every day; he cut his hair and put on his glasses. He is out in the sunshine every day. He is now the president of the community recreational center where they play bingo, watch movies. ... He went from having no life to having a full life," she said.
Harter said that story is a favorite among many.
She goes to the airport when veterans groups are traveling to see their various memorials, attends Memorial Day parades and visits hospitals and nursing homes, all to find veterans who need a chair. She gets calls from families, caretakers and medical professionals when they hear of her work.
Harter said when she offers a veteran a chair, he usually reacts with cynicism.
"They have been preyed upon by opportunists who want something from them; so they can't believe I am offering them a chair for free, with no strings attached, out of the goodness of patriots who have donated to make it happen for them," she said.
She no longer needs help to find chairs or veterans who need them. The chairs and the veterans find her. She now goes wherever she is invited, tells her story and asks for money to refurbish more chairs.
Harter appreciates the media coverage over the last year of the VA scandal, and she has noticed a distinct change in the public reaction to her stories.
In April, CNN found at least 40 veterans died while waiting for care at the Phoenix VA hospital. In June, an internal VA audit found more than 120,000 veterans were left waiting or never received care. Officials were found to have put pressure on schedulers to create false waiting lists to hide the long wait times.
"People used to gasp," Harter said, when she talked about the failings of the VA.
Now, she told WND, "I don't get the shock anymore that the VA is not doing their job."
Harter said what's shocking is that thousands of veterans don't have what they need to get through life.
"If I can do it for $300 per chair," she said. "Why can't someone with the resources of the VA be doing the same thing?"
Her work began because it seemed that veterans were being overlooked or forgotten.
"We weren't doing enough for the (military) families," she said. "I am very patriotic and I am grateful for my freedoms. Now we have to take care of our vets; we just don't do enough. I have known Vietnam vets since I was 20 years old, and they didn't get welcomed home or taken care, and they still don't. It's the same with our Korean vets. It's the forgotten war," Harter told her local Valley News.
She's been honored as Riverside Woman of the Year in 2012 for her work for veterans and was the recipient of the Joan Sparkman Unity Award in 2013. As the mother of four, she is convicted about honoring the military in tangible ways.
"There is never going to be enough done for what they have done for us. I think we take things like our freedoms for granted and that's not OK," she told the Valley News. "This is the Lord's plan. He has his hand on this in a big way, and there is no greater honor than to be used as a vessel by the Lord."
Harter’s motivation is unwavering, despite economic ebbs and flows, and news cycles.
"I want people to know that All From the Heart is the little engine that could," she said. "We are now going to have our 11th year."
On the first Saturday of December, people will support active military families, with special emphasis on circumstances such as cancer, missing limbs, PTSD and special-needs children.
"If anyone knows someone who needs a chair, we will bring it to you, no strings attached. You earned it," she said.