Chief Cryptologic Technician (Collections) Nancy Bullock-Prevot chose to retire from the Navy in 2015 when her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Her priority was her family, but she didn’t want to stop serving.
Following retirement, she started off working a regular nine to five job, but she wasn't happy.
“It wasn't fulfilling,” said Prevot. “I just asked God to give me something. For a week straight, articles about women veteran homelessness began showing up on my desk, and to me that was a sign.”
Her faith and her husband Patrick, a chief warrant officer who served the Navy for 31 years, tested her to do something to support those female veterans.
“Most people know that the officer’s job is to challenge the chief, and that’s just how our relationship was,” said Prevot. “He would say ‘Okay Chief, do something,’ and I started writing. If I could do something, this is how I would do it.”
Her husband’s challenge prompted her to reach out to different entities in the area as well as Washington D.C. and ask why there is such limited support for female veterans. In August 2016, Prevot founded the Honor, Empower, and Rebuild my Sisters in Arms Foundation to help female homeless veterans.
“As a female veteran, she observed that women veterans are often overlooked and forgotten,” said Gabrielle Gogarty Wilson, the H.E.R. Foundation of Northwest Florida outreach coordinator. “She decided to make it her mission to remind the community that veterans are women too; equally serving and contributing to our nation in uniform.”
According to a 2018 article by Military.com, women make up approximately nine percent of the nation’s veteran homeless population.
“I was able to utilize the skills that that the military had taught me to research, and I saw that there were a lot of women veterans that were homeless, especially here in the panhandle,” said Prevot. “It was dumbfounding to me that there are no homes for a female veteran.”
Even though Prevot was not at the stage of buying a home for the foundation, she contacted a realtor friend to get an idea of the necessities she would need in a home. Her plan to purchase was still five years down the road. As she walked across the threshold of a home on Fairfield Dr., she immediately knew that it was the house that would be the future home of the H.E.R. Foundation of Northwest Florida, even though she didn’t have the money for it.
“She (the realtor) asked me three times about calling the listing agent and I said no, God will provide this house,” said Prevot. “If you ask me one more time, I’m going to tell our pastor on Sunday that you have no faith and our pastor is her brother.”
Prevot eventually contacted the homeowner directly. He stated that he believed what she was embarking on was admirable, but he could not donate the residence. This is when Prevot truly believes that her faith stepped in. She continued to pray.
“Three months later, the house was given to me. He (the owner who wishes to remain anonymous) didn't know me, and I didn't know him, but God had already had that ram in the bush for me,” said Prevot.
The owner called her up on Veterans Day and told her that after a lot of thought and prayer, he decided to give her the house.
“I hung up on him, and when he called back he said, ‘Did you hang up on me?’ I said yes sir. ‘He said why did you hang up?’ I said of all days for you to call me, you call me Veterans Day, and I didn't want you to hear the ugly cry because I just finished the Veterans Day parade downtown. I was crying like a little baby.”
The donation of the home in November 2016 upgraded her timeline to achieving her goal by five years.
“All the while, people didn't know my husband had cancer and that my husband was dying,” said Prevot. “I think, in a roundabout way, God gave me this vision because he knew at the end of the day that I was going to need something to help someone else when I was grieving the loss of my husband.”
After a very long battle with cancer, her husband passed away Sept. 28, 2017, but not before he got to see and contribute to the Faith House project.
“He got to see this house, he got to see things in motion, said Prevot. “My husband painted this (the office) on oxygen.”
According to the people close to the Prevots, their chiefly work ethic of Sailors first, mission always, carried over into retired life.
“She's tireless. She ‘chiefs’ me, like her husband ‘chiefed’ her,” said Gogarty, who is also a retired Sailor herself. “She has the ability to create a team, and I think that's the most important aspect in any 501C3 NGO (non-government organization). I think her 'chiefliness' is going to have a huge impact.”
Finally on Nov. 15, Nancy Bullock-Prevot, retired Navy chief, Goldstar wife, mother and founder of the H.E.R. Foundation of Northwest Florida will be able to open the doors of ‘Faith House’ to help homeless female veterans by providing housing and other services that may lead them to establishing successful futures.
Contact the H.E.R. Foundation of Northwest Florida through their website to find out the grand opening details.
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