Military veterans rarely call themselves heroes. No matter their experience, a veteran usually argues that he or she just wanted to serve their country. Fuquay-Varina’s own Mike Dorman is no different. Despite his service in the Coast Guard and his service to fellow veterans, he stubbornly denies that he is a hero. The truth is, Dorman is a hero by anyone’s definition, and not just because he protected and defended America’s maritime environment for 20 years.
Dorman enlisted when he was 19 years old. “I thought maybe I would do four years and move on,” he remembers. He was seasick at first but that improved as his rank and time in service increased. Dorman spent a total of 10 years afloat, participating in numerous drug interdictions, search and rescue missions, and other operations around the world. When he retired as a chief warrant officer, he returned to Fuquay-Varina, where some of his family still lives.
Mike Dorman’s life changed in 2008 when he founded Military Missions in Action (MMIA), a nonprofit located in Fuquay-Varina that assists North Carolina veterans with disabilities, members of the Armed Forces, and their families. Dorman and his team of donors and volunteers work to improve the quality of life for veterans and service members overseas.
“When I first started, I had one $14,000 construction project, but only $2,000 in the bank,” he says. Dorman lacked funds, but not motivation. He met with Veteran Service Counselor Tim Virgilio about disabled veterans in North Carolina. Dorman was told that if he created 100 home modifications a month for 12 months, he would still not reach all those in need. A spiritual man, Dorman was not intimidated. He quickly began partnering with volunteers and donors, forfeiting his own salary until MMIA was on solid ground.
“We completed our project, and MMIA still had that $2,000 in the bank,” he says.
Today, MMIA assists veterans through five major initiatives: 1) Operation Building Hope (provides home modifications to ensure veterans with disabilities can live independently); 2) Homes for Healing (assists veterans with traumatic brain injuries and PTSD with home repair and resources to alleviate personal stress so they can concentrate on healing); 3) Military Child Access Assistance Program (helps veterans who have children with special needs make their homes handicap-accessible); 4) Fill the Footlocker (collections of items that bring comfort to active duty servicemen and women in combat zones, and homeless veterans); and 5) Operation Warrior Golf (a program that teaches veterans with disabilities how to overcome their limitations through the game of golf).
This year, Military Missions in Action has sent 5,000 care packages abroad, donated household products to 40 families, assisted over 4,000 homeless veterans and completed 28 construction projects. These are significant accomplishments for Dorman’s small nonprofit, which has often overcome shortages in funds and resources.
Although there are organizations out there that build entire homes for veterans, Dorman stands firm in his desire to assist with smaller projects. For instance, a former Marine with a brain injury may not be able to fix a leaky faucet. Dorman believes these seemingly insignificant repairs can improve a veteran’s personal and family life. This attention to the little things has helped MMIA gain notable recognition.
In 2010, Dorman received the Distinguished Service Award from the Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce at their annual banquet. It turns out that 2013 was a huge year for Mike Dorman. On February 15th, Dorman received The Presidential Citizens Medal, which is the second highest civilian award given by the federal government. As an organization, MMIA received the Small Business of the Year award from the Chamber of Commerce in 2013. And later that year, Dorman received the Key to the Town of Fuquay-Varina by Mayor John Byrne.
Perhaps Dorman minimizes his hero status because this hero does not stand alone. Gleefully overworked and underpaid right alongside him are his Director of Operations and Administration Mendy Lesher, and a bookkeeper. He also relies on heavily on volunteers, who are help with a variety of projects.
“We cast such a wide net that everyone can find a job that suits them. Not everyone wants to build a ramp,” says Dorman. Some volunteers work long hours on construction projects and others spend an hour at a time handing out water at work sites. These volunteers, along with donors and partners, help keep MMIA at a 7-cent administration cost, meaning 93 cents of every dollar is used to fund the programs. Many of MMIA’s regular donors are located in Fuquay-Varina.
Part of the reason Dorman can keep expenses low is that he relies heavily on partnerships when procuring resources. His office space, for example, has been donated for the last seven years by Sim Honeycutt of The Young Group, with whom he shares a building. Not only does Honeycutt donate the office space, he gives Mike and his staff space to collect and display military gear and memorabilia that has been donated to him by veterans in the area.
Dorman and Honeycutt attended the same church, but had only met twice. When Dorman needed insurance for his new nonprofit, he visited the office and saw a sign that advertised rental office space. Dorman asked to meet with the owner, and over breakfast at Campbell’s Diner, Dorman shared his vision and asked Honeycutt to donate the space. The rest is history.
Other donors in Fuquay-Varina work closely with MMIA. For example, the Bob Barker Company donated 60 percent of the items collected for this year’s Homeless Veteran Stand Down. Dorman has given his Making a Difference Award to Evelyn Kinlaw at Bentwinds Golf Club, Tilley Brothers Body Shop, D. R. Horton Home Builders, and of course Sim Honeycutt. He regularly teams up with other business partners, many in Fuquay, for construction projects.
“There are too many to name,” he says. Dorman is often overwhelmed with gratitude. “I love and respect the atmosphere in Fuquay-Varina. I am proud to reside here and I am proud of the partnerships I have made,” says Dorman. He knows that without donors and volunteers, MMIA would not exist. “I am just the one with the idea. They are the heart of this operation,” he says.
Currently MMIA is working on a significant project. They are building a house for a Marine, his wife, and two girls in Pamlico County. Although the deadline for completion has been pushed back to Spring 2015, Dorman is excited and optimistic. “We have never built a house from the ground up,” he says. “This house will provide plenty of space for the family while improving home life for the Marine, who has been diagnosed with PTSD and TBI and is 100% unemployable as a result.”
Dorman’s own definition of a hero comes from one of the veterans he helped who lost both his legs in combat. “He told me that everyone calls him a hero but he does not see himself as a hero. He said the hero is the one who saves the other guys.” Dorman identifies with that sentiment. A stickler for detail, Mike Dorman is constantly checking the latest statistics for veterans and their families as he works tirelessly to counteract those statistics through his programs. The unemployment rate for veterans is still high, and the daily suicide rate just recently increased from 22 to 24. Perhaps the real reason why Dorman does not think he is not a hero is that there is still so much work to do.
If saving the other guy is a requirement for hero status, Mike Dorman met that requirement when he rescued people at sea in the Coast Guard. If that isn’t enough, he also met the requirement with the first ramp he built and care package he sent. Dorman will, however, never acknowledge the hero label. He will always say the donors and volunteers help “save the other guy.”
For more information about MMIA or how you can help MMIA with its mission of helping military veterans of all ages, please call Mendy and Mike at (919) 552-1603.
