WRITTEN BY CASEY BERNARD
The Marino Project was founded in 2020 by Joe and Jodi Brasslett, owners of Home Roofing Solutions, as a way to give back to the Maine veteran community. Although not veterans themselves, they felt driven to recognize the enormous impact veterans have on the lives of those who they protect through their military service.
The following are highlights from an interview with Jodi.
What is the mission of The Marino Project?
The Marino Project’s mission is to have a direct impact on the lives of Maine military veterans in recognition of the impact they have on our lives.
How did the Marino Project start?
It was Joe’s goal in life to somehow give back to the community and it was our roofing company that has given us the platform to help veterans. As civilians, we feel an incredible debt to veterans who serve to protect us.
The project is named after Dan Marino, a childhood friend of Joe’s who enlisted in the Marines immediately out of high school. Dan came from a long line of veterans and served honorably for years, including four tours in Iraq. During his service he was injured and now battles PTSD and a traumatic brain injury. Dan was once the life of the party and chose to serve at such a young age. To see how his injuries have altered his life so dramatically we wanted to do whatever we could to honor his service and help other veterans with similar challenges.
How does the Marino Project work to achieve its mission?
Each year we host a luncheon for former clients who are veterans. Each veteran who attends is entered into a drawing to receive a $10,000 prize. That money can be used for anything — a vacation, house repair, or just money in the bank.
Last year, as a family, we were discussing other ways we can support the mission. Along with the roofing company, we have a breeding pair of Burmese mountain dogs. We decided we would donate one of the puppies, have it trained as a service dog, and donate the pup to a veteran in need. Devin Corson of Maine Refined K9 agreed to spend a year training the dog and at the end of June we placed Magnolia Grace (“Mags”) with a family in Orrington.
The veteran who received Mags suffers from severe anxiety and PTSD and was having trouble being in public spaces and around other people. Within a week of Mags joining the family he was beginning to take small trips to the store and Mags was there to comfort him when he had night terrors. We recently heard he was able to go out even more, like go to the pumpkin patch with his family.
This summer we wanted to raise additional money to support these projects, so we created a car show event with the help of some of our employees who are veterans and car lovers. We rented out the Cross Insurance Center and brought together vintage car owners to create Maine’s largest car show. The event raised more than $30,000 and will allow us to do even more for the veterans.
What advice would you give someone else who wanted to start a nonprofit to support veterans?
We are still a young organization and learning ourselves, but my advice would be to reach out and talk to us! Nonprofits are not in competition. We can all look for ways to collaborate and find ways where we can help. We don’t want to duplicate services, but we also want to help fill in where something is missing.
