Funding designed to better serve San Bernardino County is giving one nonprofit a greater opportunity to expand its impact with veterans.
A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) through the Estate of Rohn Rookstool Fund will allow U.S. Vets, whose mission is to prevent and end veteran homelessness and empower veterans and families through housing, advocacy, and comprehensive services, to enhance how the nonprofit distributes supplements to vets.
“San Bernardino County is one the largest counties in the United States, but it also has one of the largest issues of poverty and disadvantaged communities,” said Nicole Sparks-Murray, Executive Director of U.S. Vets. “The grant dollars helped us supplement resources and extend them at a greater level than we would normally be able to do with just some of our regular grants.”
She added that while some San Bernardino grants for programs—from HUD to master leasing dollars—may be geared towards permanent supportive housing, 2025 dollars have dwindled.
“That funding has since been cut drastically, 30 percent overall,” she said. “It’s vitally important that we’re able to provide additional and much-needed support to vets in those programs while we live in an environment of cuts. The IECF grant allowed us to continue to put together ‘Welcome Home’ packs for veterans. It allowed us to provide more food and household and/or toiletry supplements.”
Sparks-Murray said that the nonprofit can be a vital touchpoint for resources and an extension of food supply and support.
“Getting food stamps in the area became a recent issue,” she added. “But we were able to use those IECF resources to fund families that need extra food for a week. The grant came at a really great time for us when we needed to plug holes that were larger than they needed to be.”
U.S. Vets has provided housing and critical services for 23 years. The March Veterans Village on the March Air Reserve Base is now akin to a haven for vets, while additional vets’ housing exists throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
To that end, the nonprofit supports more than 400 veterans and their families with emergency, transitional and permanent housing, mental health care, career services and comprehensive individual support.
This includes prevention programs and services that help older veterans, “age in place.”
Veterans founded the organization, in fact, with a mission to serve fellow veterans. Today, U.S. Vets is one of the leading nonprofits dedicated to helping veterans and their families transition from homelessness through support and toward independence.
“We’re the largest veterans’ servicer in the United States, particularly in the Inland Empire,” Sparks-Murray said. “I’d love for people to know that our mission is pretty simple: We plan to prevent and end veterans’ homelessness. And I know it sounds cliché-ish, but it’s really what we plan to do. People are like, ‘Well, what are you going to do if you end veteran homelessness? Is your agency going to close?’
“No, we’ll continue to be in prevention services,” she added. “We’ll continue to build housing. We’ll continue to do the work surrounding veterans. There is a real need for people to know that veterans are struggling, and they are our nation’s finest. They have gone off to war, left their families, and have given their lives to this country. Then they come back home and can face homelessness.”
Looking ahead, U.S. Vets hopes to remain the organization at the forefront of changing the “homeless vets” narrative.
“We are in this to move the needle in the right direction,” Sparks-Murray said.
Learn more at usvets.org.
This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, December, 2025.
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