At a young age, it was ingrained into Brady Quinn ’07 that it was important to respect and support the military. His father was a marine in Vietnam. His grandfathers had both served. The lineage ensured he and his sisters never took for granted the sacrifices soldiers made for the good of the country.Because of that “strong appreciation for those who have risked their lives to protect liberties and freedoms for us,” he says, he was motivated to create a foundation dedicated to giving back to the armed forces. In 2011, Quinn formed 3rd & Goal – Veterans Home Aid to make homes handicap accessible for wounded veterans. It also expanded to help provide housing for homeless veterans, whose numbers top 107,000 in the United States.As the foundation progressed, Quinn wanted to be able to adapt to the needs of veterans. He noticed that poor financial management was a problem that kept reappearing.Quinn called his former Notre Dame professor Carl Ackermann to address the issue and the two created a four-session course on personal finance to include budgeting, saving and investing, to take place at the South Bend Center for the Homeless in June 2016.The two hope to execute this program on a larger scale in order to help more people, Ackermann says. Moving locations has been discussed, as has a video series which veterans could access online.
More from What Would You Fight For?
- 2:01Fighting to End PovertyIn Dandora, Kenya, a sprawling neighborhood in Nairobi, housing for 250,000 people is built around the city’s largest dumpsite. Life near a large trash heap exposes the population to problems ranging from illness to unemployment to extreme poverty.Many of the town’s residents spend their days wading in the trash, looking for bits of aluminum and plastic that they can exchange for a few dollars to support their family. Others, typically women, run roadside stands selling goods like fruit or medications. For many families, the profits from these microenterprises are the only way to put food on the table or to send children to school.Notre Dame and its Ford Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity have been invested in Dandora for several years. Research projects and a Holy Cross parish have taken root. In speaking with the local population about their needs, the Ford Program asked a trio of Notre Dame economists — Wyatt Brooks, Kevin Donovan and Terry Johnson — to come to Dandora to explore problems surrounding unemployment.For more information: http://ntrda.me/FFEndPoverty
- 2:01Fighting for the Lives of ChildrenWhen your child is diagnosed with a rare, genetic disease, it feels like you’re rolling down a mountain, just waiting to hit rock bottom, says Doug Berns. When his daughter, Samantha, was diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C, an incurable, neurodegenerative disorder, he and his wife watched as Samantha’s energy depleted, her balance became shaky, and her laughter quieted.At Notre Dame, researchers in the Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases seek to identify and advance treatments for a number of rare diseases, including Niemann-Pick Type C.For more information: http://ntrda.me/LivesofChildren
