AARP The Magazine - April/May 2012

INSPIRING PEOPLE
Another Place Like Home
A veteran in need of caregiving finds a loving foster family

N

NAOMI MCGRAW AND HER HUSBAND,
George, are at their favorite pizza
place in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
With them is Louis David, an 88-
year-old World War II vet, wearing
his customary fedora. A waitress
stops and says hello, recognizing the
trio. “He goes everywhere we go,”
explains McGraw.
Since David moved in with the
McGraws a year and a half ago,
they’ve transitioned from strangers to
something like family. The three were
matched through the Medical Foster
Home Program of the U.S. Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs, which pairs
trained caregivers with veterans who
pay them for 24-hour support.
Created in Little Rock, Arkansas,
a decade ago, the program offers
vets an alternative to nursing home
care—for less than half the cost. (The
program made little headway until
2008, when outreach expanded be-
cause of $9 million in supplemental
A VER Y HAPP Y VET Naomi McGraw’s biggest reward? Seeing Louis David thrive.
funds from Congress.) Today 60 VA
hospitals in 34 states participate,
with about 500 veterans now in foster
homes across the country. Veterans
pay families an average of $2,200 a
month, which fluctuates depending
on their health care needs.

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