A crowd of veterans gathers at the Heroes Cafe at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital. Some arrive with their families, others are wheeled in on hospital beds. They've come to nonprofit organization Operation Helping Hand’s annual Christmas dinner to share some holiday camaraderie, joke about who’s going to win that weekend’s Army-Navy football game, and reflect on the impact Operation Helping Hand has had on them.
For approximately 20 years, the all-volunteer Operation Helping Hand (OHH) has provided support to active duty military members and veterans receiving care through James A Haley’s Polytrauma Rehabilitation Unit, the busiest of five VA polytrauma facilities established to provide intensive rehabilitation care to service members and veterans who have sustained serious injuries, including brain injuries, to multiple organ systems. The nonprofit focuses on active duty military and veterans from post-9/11 conflicts.
At OHH’s annual Christmas dinner, retired Army veteran Malika Montgomery shares her personal story about the pivotal role the nonprofit played in her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS). Diagnosed in 2003, Montgomery struggled with the effects of MS and the reality of being wheelchair-bound. She fell into a state of despair, unable to do the activities she once loved, like biking.
“I went to the woe is me stage for years and years,” Montgomery says. “But I decided I wanted to step on MS and show that I had power over it. I wanted to ride my bike. I couldn’t stand up and get on my two-wheel bike. I quit. I literally threw the bike down”
But Montgomery would not let this stop her permanently. She set her sights on riding a bike to the VA. When OHH found out about Montgomery’s situation, they stepped up and provided her with a handcycle recumbent bike. When she couldn’t move her feet as much, they provided her with extensions to help her pedal.
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Tashie TierneyArmy veteran Malika Montgomery“Days were tough; there were a lot of tough days,” she says. “But once I got on the bike, it’s like it took everything away. It’s life-changing. I’m not in bed anymore. I don’t want to be in bed anymore! I don’t want to sit down, I want to keep going!”
Since then, Montgomery has fallen in love with living an active lifestyle. She is now part of Tampa Bay’s Dragonbat club.
In 2024, OHH funded Montgomery’s trip to New Orleans to the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, where she competed in 12 events. She plans to return to the games in 2025, determined to ride her bike in one of the races.
“Operation Helping Hand supports you,” she says. “They get you where you need to be.”
Innovative ways to help
Since its founding two decades ago, OHH has changed the lives of thousands of veterans like Montgomery. The nonprofit has raised over $2 million for the James A. Haley’s Polytrauma Rehabilitation Unit and helped over 2,000 veterans.
“This is a high-class organization that is dedicated to our veterans,” says James A Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics Executive Director David Dunning. “It’s a worthy cause to support.”
As a veteran himself with more than 30 years of healthcare experience in the U.S. Army, Dunning is grateful for the work OHH does and its volunteers’ commitment to veterans. The nonprofit supports veterans in ways that go beyond traditional medical practice, often in innovative and unexpected ways.
“There’s a lot of rules when it comes to government funding. We can buy things here, we can’t buy certain things there,” says Dunning. “Operation Helping Hand really steps up and does the things that I can’t do”
OHH’s initiatives include support for patient families and therapeutic rehabilitation programs involving music, art, and even virtual reality. Their rehabilitation programs center around activities that bring healing and hope to veterans. The programs often fall outside the scope of government funding.
“They wanted to do virtual reality and gaming,” says Operation Helping Hand President Doug Fishman. “They wanted to create a laboratory to see how VR would
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Tashie TierneyOperation Helping Hand President Doug Fishman affect those with PTSD and phantom pain for veterans with lost limbs. We learned that VR helps patients release the pain of PTSD and phantom pain.”
“If they can’t walk, it gives them the experience of hiking again,” Fishman continues. “It’s something that's available commercially but no one thought about how those experiences could affect them physiologically. Unfortunately, there isn't any funding for that since it’s not considered ‘medically approved’ practices.”
These programs are not under the purview of traditional government funding, but they have been incredibly effective in improving veterans’ mental and emotional well-being. Fishman has seen firsthand how they help veterans find a sense of normalcy after dealing with a traumatic injury.
“I remember seeing five to six very fit guys during the art therapy session,” Fishman recalls. “One of them had lost a limb, and some of them were injured. But these guys were laughing, having a great time while painting and doing different art in the studio.”
It turns out that the men in that particular group were special forces members who had seen combat. Fishman stresses the importance of doing these grounding activities. While these programs may not be traditional, government-funded methods of treatment, they bring healing in ways that conventional programs don’t.
“Those programs help them get back,” Fishman says. “Helps them refocus their thoughts and gives them the ability to step back from what they’ve lost. “They want to have a purpose. They want to be able to do things that are normal again”
Community impact
The impact of OHH is on display throughout the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital. Plaques and memorabilia line the hallways, honoring the lives OHH has touched. At the Christmas dinner, veterans cheer and clap for the organization’s work, showing their deep appreciation.
The appreciation and gratefulness for the volunteer group are undeniable.
While the nonprofit’s focus is the James A Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Fishman describes OHH as a “local organization with a global reach.” because the hospital’s Polytrauma Rehabilitation Unit treats veterans from across the country.
He encourages others to work to understand the challenges these veterans face and to offer their support, whether it’s through financial donations or volunteering.
“There’s always gonna be a time where woe is me and that’s okay. But it can’t be like forever. If there’s something you want to do, do it. Don’t let someone else tell you that you can’t. I love it when you tell me I can’t. Then I’m motivated to
prove to you that I can.” -Malika Montgomery
For more information, go to Operation Helping Hand