ST. MARTIN PARISH — “While we fight for freedom, we also fight to stay alive, and then once we come home, we fight to survive in a country we fought to protect," veteran Greg Ganier told KATC.
Gainer says his fight has taken many forms. A U.S. Navy veteran, Ganier enlisted in 1966 and served until 1970, spending a year stationed in San Diego before being shipped to Vietnam. Ganier keeps much of that history preserved in a scrapbook filled with photographs from his service, and says those memories mark the beginning of a journey that did not end when he returned home.
After leaving the military, Ganier built a life working in the flooring business during the housing boom of the 1980s. But when the industry collapsed, he says the fallout was devastating.
“Lots of the contractors in the housing industry went bankrupt, forcing my company to go into bankruptcy and my wife and I into financial ruin. I went to the VA and asked them to help me stay in my home, and all they said was 'Go talk to the mortgage company and they just walked away.'”
Losing his home, Ganier said, became a defining moment — one that still drives his work decades later.
“Well, I don’t ever want to see a veteran lose their home whatsoever," he said.
That belief eventually led to the creation of Veterans Corner. It was first launched in 2012 as a television show on the Acadiana Open Channel. The program focused on interviewing local leaders and businesses to help veterans understand resources available to them. In 2015, Veterans Corner transitioned into a nonprofit with the same mission.
Now, Ganier is focusing that mission on what he calls a pilot home project — an effort designed to help veterans not only purchase a home, but remain housed when financial setbacks arise. He says the model centers on long-term support rather than short-term assistance.
“Once the veteran is in the home and they, for some reason, lost their job— working with Veterans Corner, we would waive their principal and interest. We would sit down and work with them to help them find a job— if it takes three months, six months or even a year.”
Ganier says he is currently seeking support to build the first home, which he views as a test case for a broader model. While his long-term vision includes thousands of homes, he acknowledges that the immediate focus is proving the concept works — and ensuring veterans have the time and guidance needed to recover from unexpected hardships.
“I’m looking at leaving a legacy, not just a program, because the 48,000 homes will be built. I will never see them, but Veterans Corner will," he said.
