Elks Lodge gives back to female veterans at Holly Charette House

HELPING VETERANS: Gerard St. Germain presents a check for $1,000 to Tammy Soule, House Manager for the Holly Charette House in Johnston. Also taking part in the ceremony is Cheryl Pimental.

Posted Friday, June 3, 2011 3:50 pm

Purple Heart recipient Gerard St. Germain and Cheryl Pimental, a Johnston resident who is the National Foundation Chairperson for Elks Lodge 2359 in Smithfield, paid a visit to the Holly Charette House on Friday.

Pimental and St. Germain, who is the Exalted Ruler at the Smithfield Elks Lodge 2359, were there to meet with Tamara Soule, the house manager for the Holly Charette House that’s located at 22 Milton Street in Johnston. Soule was thrilled, as she was accepting a $1,000 check from the pair.

“We feel, and know, that this is a very important place for some young women. We are honored to help and present this check,” St. German said.

The Holly Charette House is the only all-female home in Rhode Island for veterans. The house is named in honor of Holly Charette, a Rhode Island native who was the first female Marine to be killed in Iraq. Charette was only 21 years old when a suicide bomber ambushed her platoon, crashing into their caravan. Charette was immediately killed.

The transitional home for female veterans, which honors that sacrifice, is a part of Operation Stand Down.

To date, there are three furnished apartments at the Holly Charette House that have two beds each. Soule said there are currently six women living in the home. On that hot and sunny Friday, the house was having air conditioning installed for the current occupants.

Soule said she plans to use the donation to assist the female veterans living at the Holly Charette House now.

“This is a community needs sort of grant,” Pimental said. “It comes from the National Elks Foundation.”

Operation Stand Down is a Rhode Island non-profit organization formed with one idea in mind: to help veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

“The reputation of Operation Stand Down is of a high standard,” St. Germain said. ‘The veteran comes first.”

Operation Stand Down started 17 years ago and continues to support veterans in a number of ways. For more information call 1-800-861-8387.