Woman who Suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury, Recovers and Starts Program that Helps Homeless Veterans.

Stacey Buckner began her TBI recovery in 2008, following a stroke. Her healing journey led her to found Off-Road Outreach, which has served more than 1,000 veterans in Fayetteville, North Carolina since its inception. The program provides mobile showers, laundry services, clothing and meals to veterans experiencing housing insecurity due to physical and mental health struggles. Stacey’s program also connects veterans to various support services, such as medical care, employment, housing and suicide-prevention programs.

Stacey’s personal experience with the challenges of TBI recovery inspired her to participate in outreach work, which she now calls her life mission.

“I was released from the hospital in a wheelchair,” Stacey said. “I still wasn’t completely walking on my own. I had a stutter. No one wanted to hire me.”

She diligently worked to regain her speech and motor skills, and she eventually found employment with the aid of an organization that helps individuals with disabilities. Her daily tasks at that job included calling veterans to remind them about upcoming appointments.

It was through her job that she learned more about the serious issues plaguing veterans, such as housing insecurity and social isolation. In her spare time, she began reaching out to local veterans to help ease their loneliness. She found herself relating to their hardships due to her own personal health struggles.

To help veterans in her own community, she began bringing personal care bags to the encampment of unhoused people near her office.

One day, a woman refused the bag because she didn’t have a place to shower to even use the provided items. That response opened Stacey’s eyes to some of the bigger issues faced by those in unhoused status, including veterans. She then took her act of kindness to the next level by providing people in the encampment a safe and private place to shower.

As an outdoorsy person, Stacey already had modifications made to her Jeep that included a shower hookup, water, heating and cooking facilities, which she often used for camping excursions. She decided to overhaul her own off-road vehicle to include a full shower. When she had everything set up properly, she returned to the woman who had refused her care bag and requested that she be the first one to try out the shower.

“It was life-changing for her,” said Stacey. “Just to see her go from someone that looked so defeated to smiling and to feeling so good about herself, it was just like, ‘I have to do this more often.’”

Stacey started offering weekly showers, food and clothing to those living in the encampment. During her visits, she discovered that a disproportionate number of the unhoused people living there were veterans.

She believes veterans need much more support when they return home, and she hopes to see more organizations address veterans’ mental and physical challenges and needs.

Through Off-Road Outreach, Stacey and her group of volunteers travel to remote areas of the woods to find the veterans who camp and live there. When Stacey locates a group of veterans, she simply introduces herself and asks what they need and how she can help.

Off-Road Outreach also partners with local non-profit organizations that donate products and services. Local barbers donate haircuts and retail businesses donate products like mattresses, clothing and shoes.

“I am to a lot of them their only family,” she said. “They need that camaraderie after they get out of the military. Even though I’m not a veteran, I do have mental health issues related to my TBI, so I can relate. Finding your purpose and peer support is huge.”

Off-Road Outreach has recently expanded to include a community garden where veterans can pick up fresh fruit and vegetables for free as a preventive measure for food insecurity and health issues.

Stacey does not take a salary for her work. She simply hopes her recovery story and work will inspire others.

The Foundation For a Better Life and PassItOn believe that Stacey Buckner is a hero. Her action is a great example of the value of empathy. Please help us celebrate her by sharing her inspiring story.

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