Township Man Plans to Build Housing for Veterans

The idea started with the stories Seymour Zandell read in the newspaper about scores of young veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with nowhere good to go to recover from their wounds and acclimate back into civilian life.

 “When you look in the newspapers and you see pictures of veterans laying on their backs in institutions and the caregiver has to come from remote areas and bear the expense, travel great distances and choke on fast food, isn’t that an overbearing amount of pain andanguish,” Zandell said.

 A few years ago Zandell had a vision to build housing for returning vets on four acres of land he owns in Parsippany. The parcel is ideal, he said, because it sits a mile from the county college and two miles from a vocational technical school, plus it is near two veterans’ hospitals and two civilian hospitals.

 “I’ve been working on this for four years, I got totally disgusted, I thought, ‘If nobody wants to do anything, I’ll do something,” said Zandell, who will not reveal his age but whose e-mail  address begins with HandyZandy1930.

 Zandell fills his days with meetings with people who might be able to lend help toward the project. He said he wants it to be able to provide for, “as many veterans as possible,” in two-bedroom units that could house both the veteran and his or her caregiver. Zandell has had plans drafted for a building with between 70 and 80 rooms.

 But the price will be steep. A cost estimate for Zandell’s plan came to $8 million and while he could be eligible for as much as $5 million via the Veteran Affairs Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program, that still leaves him short at least $3 million.

 “I need as much support and volunteers as I can possibly get,” he said.

 Zandell comes by his concern for veterans honestly. He is one. For four years, Zandell served as a 2nd class Navy petty officer and worked as a welder aboard the USS Newport News during the Korean War. In the process, his hearing was damaged, a disability he struggled to work around when the war was over.

“When I got out of the Navy, I went through what they’re going through now,” he said.

 In late December, Zandell received Morris County’s Distinguished Service Medal for his service not only when he was an enlisted man, but for his work for returning veterans.

 Zandell is the CEO of Zandy’s Acres, a not-for-profit organization that is working to build the housing for veterans. In addition to his property in Parsippany, Zandell said he owns other real estate nearby and would like to build more veteran’s housing there once the first project is completed.

 “And from there I want to buy more land,” he said.

 The crucial parts of the plans, Zandell said, is that the veterans are located near medical services and have space in their homes for people who care for them.

 “That’s the best therapy any veteran could want,” he said. “No matter how good the medicine is, the friends and relatives there make that individual want to jump the hell out of bed.”

 Also, it’s essential for Zandell that the veterans have access to schools.

 “When they come back and they turn in their rifles, what have they learned besides military skills?” he said. “Here they will be able to go to school and it will enable them to find the strength in themselves so that they can compete in the open market.”

 Zandell said he is approaching big corporations as well as unions for help. Ideally, he would like to see ground broken in June and a finished building a year later.

 “I’m really excited about this,” he said. “In my old age, that’s the best damn thing there isand it sure beats the hell out of boredom.”

 To contact Zandell, call 973-262-4054.