News, announcements,
and the story behind
the mission.

Local Veteran with Asperger's Turns Personal Disaster into Lifeline for Osceola County's Most Vulnerable

A Navy veteran who has led more than 144 national disaster relief operations, founded two nonprofits, and survived a hurricane that destroyed his home, an arrest that separated him from his family, and a heart attack in jail is now building something rare in Central Florida — a community safety net woven from humility, hard experience, and the belief that even after disaster, people deserve a path to dignity.

KISSIMMEE, Florida — Joe Ryan never thought his own life would start to look like the disaster scenes he had spent 25 years walking into.

Joe lives with autism/Asperger's and other challenges, and he has walked the same road as many people in special education, people with ADHD, social disorders, and learning disabilities. He wants every person with a disability to know this:

"Do not give up on your dream. Do not let anyone tell you that you cannot be a contractor, a firefighter, an EMT, a director, a teacher, a professor, a doctor, a lawyer, a politician, or anything else you are called to be. I went to special ed and I still went into the military. I still went to college. I still help people. Those of us with special needs can do anything we set our minds to."

Joe is a local man on the autism spectrum (Asperger's), a U.S. Navy veteran, and the founder of two nonprofits: MDR Disaster Relief and Veterans Outreach, based in Pennsylvania, and Heaven-Sent Community Services and Veterans Assistance in Florida. Over more than 25 years, including 10 years leading MDR, Joe has helped support over 144 national disaster relief operations across the United States, working alongside FEMA, the American Red Cross, and other partners.

After Hurricane Ian in 2022 destroyed the Ryan family's RV home, Joe and his wife Kimmy discovered the gap firsthand. FEMA paid $5,000 of a $21,100 roof repair. Rebuild Florida denied their application — because at the federal level, an RV is classified as a recreational vehicle, not a residence, even when it is someone's permanent home. Florida's own classification said otherwise. That contradiction left the family — and thousands like them — with nothing.

"We're not asking for a handout. We are asking for a chance to multiply what is already in motion — a chance to turn decades of disaster experience, some hard personal lessons, and a whole lot of love for this community into something bigger."

Out of that experience, Joe and Kimmy founded Heaven-Sent Community Services and Veterans Assistance, Inc. — a grassroots 501(c)(3) nonprofit now based in Kissimmee. Alongside it, Joe launched Celestial Contractors, a for-profit social enterprise that generates earned revenue through painting, pressure washing, property cleanup, and related services, with a portion of that revenue flowing back to fund Heaven-Sent's charitable programs.

Heaven-Sent and Celestial Contractors are already on the ground — feeding approximately 150 veterans, seniors, and unhoused neighbors, distributing clothing and hygiene kits, and working alongside the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida and the Continuum of Care across Osceola, Orange, and Seminole Counties.

The organizations are now asking Osceola County leaders and the wider community to help solve one specific, urgent problem: space. Joe maintains relationships with more than 400 vendors from past disaster relief deployments — retailers, manufacturers, and partners willing to donate pallets of food, clothing, building materials, and emergency supplies. Without a warehouse or storage yard where a tractor-trailer can safely deliver, those donations cannot reach the people who need them most.

Heaven-Sent is also working toward transitional housing for veterans, disabled residents, and seniors — a piece of ground where modest, code-compliant transitional housing can be built for people who have served and struggled.

"This community has always stepped up after hurricanes and big disasters. Now I am asking our leaders to step up for the quiet disasters — the veteran in his car, the disabled neighbor with nowhere to go, the senior who cannot keep up with rising costs. Give us the space, and we will do the work."