Jubilee House Spiritual Formation for Women Veterans

Jubilee House: Spiritual Formation for Women Veterans is a book of honor and recognition of the daughters of our nation. Well over 3 Million Veterans have served this great nation in all eras, conflicts, wars and scrimmages. Women have proudly served from World War I to Afghanistan. Jubilee House is an edifice of honor which was purchased by Barbara Summey Marshall and Maya Valrissa Louise Marshall to offer transitional housing services and spiritual support for homeless and transitioning women veterans. Barbara Summey Marshall is a proud Navy Veteran who served as a Yeoman and as Navy Chaplain for a total of over 15 years. Maya Valrissa Louise Marshall is a proud US Army Combat veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan during a time of war. Both women have an unwavering commitment to help shore up women veterans who have been displaced, discredited, discounted and forgotten. On or around March of 2005, these women veterans opened their family home to homeless women veterans and their children. This act of service continued in their home until the women veterans purchased o a Department of Veterans foreclosure in August 2010 which would become a separate resident for the homeless and transitioning women veterans. These women veterans used personal funds to purchase the VA foreclosure and to make many of the repairs. The women veterans named the edifice for homeless women veterans the Jubilee House. The home was named for the Time of refreshing described in the book found in the Hebrew Scripture known as Leviticus. Shortly after purchasing the house in August 2010, the languishing foreclosure was repaired and painted under the leadership of James Cornelius Neely, Jr., husband of Barbara Summey Marshall. James was a United States Marine Corps Veteran who served during the Vietnam War. James also suffered from the effects of Agent Orange. On or around January 2011, the American Broadcasting Companies Inc. Extreme HomeMakeover team of producers reached out to Barbara Summey Marshall and family and discussed the possibility of rebuilding the leaky 1300 square foot Jubilee House which was at the time housing four women veterans and 3 children. The Marshall-Neely family agreed to the rebuild and went through the stringent five month vetting process. Sadly, James would not live to see the renovated Jubilee House. After a series of emotional interviews and with the rigorous vetting process, James died suddenly from an Agent orange related heart malady in March 2011. With convincing from the American Broadcasting Companies Inc. team of Producers lead by Ashton Ramsey, whose Father was also a Vietnam Veteran, the widow of James Cornelius Neely Jr. decided to move forward with the project. In July of 2011, ABC rebuilt the edifice of honor for homeless and transitioning women veterans which was approximately 5000 feet of living space and 7 bathrooms. This seemed like the answer to a prayer, since there was no other house in the Fort Bragg/Fayetteville, North Carolina military community that honored "invisible women veterans." The time since the rebuild has been a learning curve and a revelation of how much women veterans have been devalued and over looked. The struggle to honor and acknowledge the service of women veterans is an ongoing battle. Therefore, the mission/ministry of the Jubilee House will forever be the nascent efforts of two disabled Women veterans who purchased a house with their own monies that was purposed to honor and recognize the service and sacrifice of Women veterans. We hope that this book will be a clarion call to Women veterans to "Get in Formation" and to make the most of life. No matter what challenges women veterans have faced, there is yet the courage and strength to recover and reintegrate. We offer these words of Spiritual Formation for the brave, courageous, intrepid, adventurous and spirited, audacious women who have and will serve in the armed forces of this great nation.