Houston woman champions heroes in uniform

At age 7, Meredith Iler opened a lemonade stand in her grandparents' River Oaks neighborhood.

“The first day, only one person came and they gave me 50 cents,” Iler recalled. “I wanted to buy a bike and I was going to be open 20 days. This was not going to work.”

Iler's solution: Go door to door selling laminated “passes” for all-you-can-drink lemonade to her grandparents' well-heeled neighbors. She made $768.

“I bought my bike for like $30,” Iler said. “And then I bought Disney stock.”

These days, the 43-year-old descendant of multimillionaire Houston real estate entrepreneurs is focusing her talent for fundraising on another cause: building handicapped-accessible homes for severely injured veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She chairs the board of a Houston nonprofit, Helping a Hero, which has built 18 houses since December 2005 and raised money for at least eight more.

“I don't see any reason we can't build a house for every single severely wounded veteran in America,” Iler said. “Personally, that's when I'll rest.”

Iler, the president of a public relations firm, volunteers 50 hours a week for Helping a Hero.

She made her point

“I wanted to prove that you could do it as a volunteer and never have paid staff or overhead and just inspire Americans to step up and say ‘thank you' in a tangible way to our wounded heroes,” she said.

Helping a Hero houses have an average value of $250,000, and often include special bathrooms, larger doorways, and tile floors to accommodate wheelchairs.

One home designed for a Marine who suffered third-degree burns over half of his body features tinted windows, a high-efficiency air conditioner and heating system to help control his body temperature. It also has a covered porch so the veteran, who must avoid direct sunlight, can play outside with his children.

“Meredith is an amazing champion for helping our severely wounded warriors live a life of dignity,” said Buddy Grantham, director of Houston's Veterans' Affairs Office.

Iler's secret weapon is her BlackBerry. Her 9,000-person contact list includes former President George H.W. Bush, country music star Amy Grant, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and members of the Saudi royal family as well as developers, oil tycoons and business owners who have donated labor, materials and time to Helping a Hero.

How it works

Businessman George Strake met Iler through the Rotary Club. She persuaded him to donate $100,000.

“She's a dynamic person to the point where you see her coming you almost turn and run, because you know it's a good project and you know she's not going to give up until you get behind it,” Strake said. “That's not a criticism; it's a compliment.”

Helping a Hero's formula is simple, Iler said. A developer donates a piece of land, a builder matches the lot value and cash raised from the community covers the rest. The home is titled in the name of the veteran, who is responsible for $50,000 worth of the purchase price.

The veteran's monthly payments usually come to about $300 plus insurance, taxes and upkeep, Iler said.

She estimates there are about 8,000 severely wounded veterans nationwide who would qualify for a home. To her surprise, however, the hardest part of the project has been recruiting applicants.

“They're used to being the ones to sacrifice for us, and it's very difficult for them to be on the receiving end,” she said. “It's humbling to see these guys who come back with so many challenges question why they need a house. And every one of them would give their house to the next guy if they needed it more than them.”

“We don't want to be a charity case,” explained retired Army Sgt. Sergio Trejo, 26. “Offering us a mortgage, it helps us feel we're still contributing to our family.”

Reluctant to step forward

Trejo medically retired from the military in 2007 after a roadside bomb in Iraq left him with traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and nerve damage from a crushed vertebra. He was living in a 700-square-foot apartment with his wife, two kids and two dogs when his vocational counselor referred him to Helping a Hero.

“I was really reluctant to do it,” Trejo said. “I mean, I have friends who are burned (on over) 80 percent of their body, who are missing so many body parts. I felt like I was one of the lucky ones.”

But Trejo had to admit the tight quarters and strained finances were taking a toll.

In 2008, his family moved into a 2,600-square-foot home in La Marque. The house has a physical therapy studio and railings to help him get around.

Best of all is the big backyard .

“I take so much pride in mowing my lawn,” he said. “I remember in Iraq I would dream of the day I'd come home, and being able to do the landscaping around my home, edging the lawn, maybe planting a small vegetable garden.”

lindsay.wise@chron.com