Shasta supervisors approve opioid litigation funds for veteran-focused nonprofit

Board chair Chris Kelstrom’s voice started to waver as he spoke on a topic that he said had him “choked up”: uplifting veterans. At yesterday’s board of supervisors meeting, the county received a presentation from Sgt. Justin Bond, the founder of the nonprofit Our Heroes’ Dreams. His organization provides a number of services to veterans and first responders across the state, who may be battling homelessness, addiction, or have mental health needs. 

Bond’s goal yesterday was to secure $250,000 from the county’s multimillion dollar opioid litigation settlement, which would go toward expanding Our Heroes’ Dreams operations with the veteran population of Shasta County, particularly those who are homeless or suicidal. According to the California Department of Health, in 2023, 501 veterans across the state died by suicide, and veterans accounted for 12% of adult suicides that year. The 50-84 age category accounted for the largest percentage of suicide deaths. 

With Supervisor Kevin Crye absent, the four board members present unanimously approved the allocation after a very personal presentation from Bond, which included mention of his history of a battlefield injury followed by 57 surgeries, including several in recent months.

“We show them that the hardest battles that they’re facing … qualify them to go out and save their brothers and sisters,” Bond said of those he serves, explaining that overcoming adversity as a veteran can prepare one to help others. He shared his own experience of having to rely on prescription opiates for combat-related injuries, and how that reliance slipped into addiction in the past, mentioning the Fentanyl patch he was wearing even as he spoke.

Other veterans who spoke during public comment shared personal anecdotes about how Bond’s organization has helped them. “In eight months, I was able to raise my credit score from 505 to 700,” Melissa Adams attested, after describing how Our Heroes’ Dreams had also helped her wean off of heavy prescription opioid use. 

Bond’s presentation lacked details about the organization’s history, how many clients are currently being served or a fleshed out plan on how Our Heroes’ Dream will use the influx of opioid funds to increase services. Similarly, while the meeting’s agenda packet included a list of the services Our Heroes’ Dreams already provides and their associated costs, it did not indicate an itemized plan for how the $250,000 requested would either increase the services offered or expand the number of clients receiving those services. 

Instead, during the meeting, Bond described the organization’s goal broadly — as focused on expanding transitional housing for unsheltered veterans, who may be battling addiction. Rather than relying on placing veterans in hotels as temporary shelter, Bond said, the organization is looking at more cost effective options like Airbnb, aiming to extend the amount of time that people are safely housed at an affordable price.

Addressing some of the missing information from Bond’s presentation and the agenda packet, Supervisor Plummer requested during the meeting that in future he’d like Bond’s organization to provide six-month or annual impact reporting, something the founder readily agreed to. 

Despite being a nonprofit organization, no 990s, or nonprofit financial filings, are available for the organization online. Bond said in a follow up conversation with Shasta Scout that his accounting team is working with the IRS to update that.

The organization is currently enrolled in California’s system as a religious nonprofit. Erin Bertain, the county’s Deputy CEO, confirmed for Shasta Scout that there are no limits on religious nonprofits receiving funding from the opioid settlement, and said the county verifies potential recipients through the sam.gov database to ensure they are not precluded from receiving federal funds. 

And while Our Heroes’ Dreams is registered as a religious nonprofit, Bond emphasized, religious participation is not a requirement to receive services. The founder also provided Shasta Scout further context about how the added $250,000 may be used to expand his organization’s reach. 

Our Heroes’ Dreams budget last year was $380,000, and Bond noted that the funds were used to serve about nine homeless people per month, all of whom were referred to the organization by the VA, Nation’s Finest, or another veteran-focused organization. While the organization serves veterans statewide, Bond said, the $250,000 from county opioid settlement funds will be spent only on the housing needs of veterans in Shasta County.

“We should be able to handle everybody sent to us in Shasta County with that [amount],” he said. Bond estimates the local veteran population on the street to be about 100, a number that broadly matches data in the 2025 Point-In-Time count, an annual count of unhoused people across the North State.

“This funding here is going to help us in that cycle of three months you’re back out on the street,” Bond said, explaining that the transitional housing available to people now is time-limited and does not support them long enough to get them on their feet. 

“It’s going to ensure that when we bring somebody in for being homeless, that we have the proper amount of time to be able to put on all the right Band-Aids to heal that wound.”

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