About.

We are a South Dakota non-profit Corporation formed on February 11, 2018 whose mission is to bring the returning veterans back into society through job training, education, or just PTSD counseling.  Founder Dave Gates discovered through personal experience when a Veteran feels like a member of the team, it raises his/her chances for survival. 

A New Charity

Veteran's Helping Hands Project came into being when Dave Gates started to get some of his Vietnam PTSD back after 48 years of it being buried, causing Dave to rethink where he was headed in life.  VHHP started as a non-profit aimed at education, etc., but this all changed when talking to the local VFW and Veteran's Affairs.  He found that there was an 800 lb. gorilla in the  ​room that was out of sight, pertaining to veterans being passed from one group to the next.  Nobody had any finances to help veterans, or the need didn't fit the programs offered by that group.  VHHP will be teaching veterans how to build homes for other veterans, and with every home sold, the profits will be returned to local organizations to help provide the funds necessary to better meet the needs of our veterans.

Our Goal

Dave Gates has had a very popular outdoor TV show called Dakota Sportsmen TV which has aired on The Sportsman Channel, The Pursuit Channel, MidCo Sportsnet, streaming on The Hunt Channel, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire, and OANTV.com.  What VHHP wants to do is to present our case to the national audience for support and to start a National discussion about this situation going on across the nation.  If we can stop one suicide from happening our reason for existence has been justified.  We want to remake the show to be totally about the veterans and their plight by taking veterans on hunting, and fishing trips, plus taking the whole family on retreats.

Our Team

Tawney Brunsch
​Member-at-Large
T: 605-685-9337
E: favre_pack4ever@hotmail.com
​
Tawney Brunsch is the Executive Director of Lakota Funds, the first-ever Native community development financial institution (CDFI) on a reservation. Since becoming Executive Director of Lakota Funds in 2010, Tawney has led this financial institution through several more history-making accomplishments, including:
. The charter of the Lakota Federal Credit Union, the first federally insured financial institution on the Pine Ridge Reservation since 1935.
. The launch of a child development account program, a unique matched savings program for Kindergartners and 1st graders designed to build the family core, the first of its kind on any reservation in the nation.
. The conversion that is currently underway of Eagle Nest Housing, a low-income tax credit housing development, into privately-owned homes. To date eight homes have been sold to low-income families at affordable prices. Tawney is a strong voice and advocate in Indian Country.
She was the recipient of the 2018 Visionary Leader Award, recognizing her long-term contribution to the Native CDFI industry and local financing and asset building efforts that make her an inspiration for others.
She was a founding board member for the Native CDFI Network, a national group that works to strengthen Native CDFIs, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial, a Native CDFI dedicated to creating opportunities for homeownership on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
She is the Chair of the Credit Committee for the Council for Native American Farmers and Ranchers and serves on the Federal Home Loan Bank's Advisory Council.
Tawney is also actively involved with the South Dakota Native Home ownership Coalition, a group that is dedicated to increasing home ownership opportunities for Native families across the state. In an active leadership role,
Tawney serves on the Coalition's Executive Committee, and Lakota Funds is the fiscal agent. She also chairs the Physical Issues Committee, which has several groundbreaking achievements under its belt, including building the capacity of Native building contractors, developing the trades workforce, increasing housing stock, and publishing educational materials on the leasehold process for the state's eight reservations.
Tawney received her Bachelor's Degree in Commercial Economics from South Dakota State University and is certified as a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Preparer. 

Dave Gates
President and Founder

CELLPHONE:  605-391-7697
EMAIL:  DAVE-GATES@HOTMAIL.COM
Dave Gates is a 1969 Vietnam veteran who came back as a changed man. This service duty eventually played into the start of Veteran’s Helping Hands Project 49 years later when he made the choice to help the next generation adjust to coming home

Dave is the current President of the non-profit corporation and has been in business in Rapid City since 1977, starting with a local meat market, fish market, and smoked meats operation for 8 years. He then started Dakota Phones, Inc. in
1987 and still has that business. To go along with his service business, Dave started Rushmore Answering Service in 1994 and sold it in 2001 to concentrate on the phone business.

In the year 2013, Dave started to put together a television show named Dakota Sportsmen TV which aired on The Sportsmen Channel in 2014 and then started airing on The Pursuit Channel in 2015, where the audience grew to over 1 million viewers a quarter. One of the reasons for the success is that he wore his veteran’s status on his sleeve, and talked to vets on every show.

After filming some disabled veteran’s in 2016, something came to life and Dave started on the path of building a non-profit organization to help veteran’s emergency financial needs.

Myron Tatum
Vice President

CELLPHONE:  605-381-3968

Myron is the job foreman for a commercial Mechanical
 engineering company called Action Mechanical located in Rapid City, South Dakota.  Myron has had a heart for helping veterans for years and started his own 501(c)(3) in 2014, but through medical problems like heart, and back problems the non-profit lapsed.  When Dave asked if Myron wanted to be part of VHHP, Myron jumped in with both feet.  Myron is an avid hunter and fisherman, and has many rancher contacts who are willing to take vets on their properties for big game like Elk, or Buffalo.

Gerald Ames
Secretary

Gerald Ames is currently the sales manager for Northwest Pipe located in Rapid City, South Dakota.  Like Myron he is an avid hunter and fisherman, especially walleye.  Gerald was the secretary for the non-profit started by Myron and agreed to help VHHP.

Paul Rodriguez
Treasurer​​

CURRENTLY DEPLOYED.  WAITING FOR HIS RETURN 

Larry Zimmerman
Public Relations Director/Member at Large

CELLPHONE:  1-605-787-2226
EMAIL:  Lzimmerman0154@gmail.com

Larry D. Zimmerman was appointed the first Secretary of the SD Department of Veterans Affairs in September 2011.  Prior to being selected as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Zimmerman served as the State Command Sergeant Major. 
Zimmerman served 29 years in the South Dakota National Guard retiring in January of 2013. He completed a tour in Afghanistan (OEF) as the Operations SGM for the nine Northern provinces in that country, and before that was the CSM in both the 109th RSG in Rapid City, SD and the 109th En Bn in Sturgis, and the Regional Training Institute at Ft Meade along with numerous other positions within the Army Guard.  Zimmerman was Active Duty Army from 1973-1976 in the 4th Infantry Division at Ft Carson, CO.
Zimmerman serves as an advocate for veterans by serving as a board member on the South Dakota Native Home Ownership Coalition, the Black Hills Area Habitat for Humanity, and Operation Black Hills Cabin.
Zimmerman is a lifetime member of: the American Legion , Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and Vietnam Veterans of America.

​DECORATIONS AND AWARDS:
Legion of Merit Medal
Bronze Star Medal
Meritorious Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal w/star
Army Commendation Medal w/1 Oak Leaf Cluster
Army Achievement Medal w/ 1 Oak Leaf Cluster

National Defense Service Medal 3rd Award
Art 5 NATO ISAF Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
NCO Professional Development Ribbon
Army Service Ribbon
Overseas Service Ribbon
Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/ M device
SD Distinguished Service Award
SD Recruiting Ribbon
SD Service Medal
SD Desert Storm Ribbon