In the midst of recovering from a hemorrhagic stroke that left him partially paralyzed, 19-year-old Brandon Gauvreau started thinking of ways to help others.

Since he suffered the stroke while serving in the Air Force at McChord in 2007, he was entitled to all the veterans benefits that came with his service.  

But as Gauvreau started receiving treatment for his recovery process, he soon realized that there was a lack of facilities available to provide very important services to wounded veterans, which included ways of providing support for family members going through the ordeal as well.

"There was nothing there for me," said Gauvreau's mother, Carol Blake. "There was never any support system in place for the families of the injured or wounded veterans."

Services such as assistance filling out forms, arranging for benefits and help with finding housing are essential for veterans who are suffering from some debilitating injury or post-traumatic stress disorder, Blake said.

"Those are the kinds of things families are encountering," Blake said.

Despite suffering visual field loss and partial paralysis on the left side of his body as well as cognitive impairment, Gauvreau wanted to do something about his situation. "Thinking about what was going on with me made me want to go out and help others," he said.

Enlisting the help of his mother (who serves as chief executive officer) Gauvreau started Our Forgotten Warriors, a nonprofit organization that was created to help veterans find their way through a maze of bureaucratic red tape and financial hardship.

Blake is quick to point out that the VA does have a lot of support programs, but there are many families and veterans that still need help.

"People are falling through the cracks, and that's where we come in," she said.

Already OFW has helped a large number of veterans. "We get more than 20 calls a month, and we just don't have the resources to help everyone who needs it. There have been times I have had to come out of my own pocket to help someone," said Blake. Hopefully that won't have to happen too much longer, some people are taking notice. OFW recently received a grant that will help fund a home repair project for a veteran living in Michigan who served two tours in Iraq and received a purple heart and has already filed bankruptcy.

While Blake is in the process of setting up a local support network for veterans in Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa, Gauvreau continues to recover and do as much as he can out of his home in DuPont.

"He wants to be able to do things himself," Blake said. "He says he wants to learn how to do things on his own so he can help others."

To help spread the word about the organization, Our Forgotten Warriors is hosting a free concert for troops and military families July 14 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord as part of Single Soldiers Day. For a list of performers or to make a donation to the foundation, visit ourforgottenwarriors.org.