Lived Experience At Core
Our story does not start in a boardroom, it starts in VA waiting rooms, treatment centers, and long nights when the noise in your head will not quiet down. Our founder has walked through PTSD treatment again and again, battled addiction, and carried moral injury across an entire adult life. That road shapes everything we do. We know the shame, the pride, and the fear of asking for help. So we built TIP OF THE SPEAR as a place where veterans are met with respect, straight talk, and a real path forward.
A Veteran-Focused Housing Model
We saw an ugly truth, there is an acute shortage of affordable housing that actually fits the lives of veterans who once put it all on the line. So we created a mission driven real estate enterprise built around them. We acquire, own, and manage transitional housing that is stable, safe, and structured. These are not generic shelters. They are veteran focused homes where counseling, peer support, and life skills work happen under the same roof, turning a bed into a launchpad toward real stability and renewed purpose.
Region-Wide Commitment
Our roots sit in Lafayette and Fayetteville, and our reach stretches across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi. We focus on real towns with real veterans who are slipping through the cracks, not statistics on a page. We listen to local partners, social workers, and families who are desperate for veteran specific housing and support. Then we go to work, property by property and life by life. Our goal is simple, build a regional network of safe havens where a veteran in crisis can find a door that is open and a team that understands.
Our Story
The men featured here are part of the story behind TIP OF THE SPEAR.
Each one carries a different history, a different burden, and a different path forward—but all of them know what it means to survive, endure, and keep going.
Their stories reflect the weight of war, the cost of silence, and the reality of what many veterans continue to carry long after coming home.
Ken
Ken lives in Dothan, Alabama and has worked hard to rebuild his life. After struggling with alcohol, he found recovery through the steps, support from the VA, and the chance to repair his family life.
Teddy
Teddy remembers curling up in a foxhole whenever he could catch some sleep. When he wasn’t kicking down doors in Fallujah, he was preaching the gospel. Today, he is studying to be an ordained minister.
Smitty
Smitty came from the south side of Chicago and was no stranger to violence. But the moral injury of burning people and villages has never left him, and those memories still remain with him.
Royal ROYL Wayne
Royal ROYL Wayne was a numbers guy—sharp, precise, and gifted with complex calculations. He became the crew chief on a nuclear submarine, but even now, restful sleep does not come easy.
Todd
Todd once had what seemed like a routine deployment directing traffic at the Baghdad airbase. That changed the day he was chosen for a secret operation and ordered to escort Saddam Hussein to his execution.
The Founder
The founder of Tip of the Spear is a 77-year-old Marine whose life has been shaped by risk, survival, silence, and service. His story is one of trauma, resilience, relapse, and the decision to give back.
Wayne | Memorial
Wayne was a Marine grunt during one of the worst periods of the conflict. He survived the war, but after returning home to a world with little support for veterans, he ultimately lost his life.
Our Mission
We exist to end veteran homelessness, prevent suicide, and restore dignity for those who once stood at the tip of the spear. Built by a veteran who has endured PTSD, addiction, and moral injury, our mission is driven by hard won understanding. We provide affordable transitional housing, mental health support, and peer led programs so veterans can move between crisis and stability with someone in their corner.