WATERVILLE — When Lynwood House’s wife died last year, House lost all hope. His mourning and grief overwhelmed him and after a period of “lost time” the disabled Korean War veteran became homeless.

This winter, Dick Hammond found him sleeping in a doorway on Temple Street in Waterville.

“Why are you sleeping in a doorway?” Hammond asked the veteran. “Because I have no home,” House answered. “Well, you do now,” replied Hammond.

Hammond has founded the Homeless Veterans’ Shelter in Waterville, the only one in Maine. “We have more than 1,700 homeless veterans in Maine,” said Hammond. “We should be ashamed.”

Currently, House and four other veterans of Korea, World War II and Vietnam call Hammond’s shelter home.

The shelter began 10 months ago as a burned out, gutted shell of a building on College Avenue. “This was just a nightmare. We had thousands of pigeons living right here,” Hammond said this week, showing off renovations and rebuilding that is turning the brick building into a home for the homeless. Piping for handicapped bathrooms is in place. One and a half kitchens have been constructed. A day room and bedrooms are nearing completion.

He picked the building, he said, because of its downtown location. “We need to be in the inner city, to meet the needs of the vets.”

Hammond started the project with $12,000 of his own funds. “I sold my pickup truck,” he says with a quick shrug. Volunteers and veterans across the state have assisted with the necessities: toilets, washing machines, beds, tables, chairs, dishes, blankets, food.

But Hammond is now used up all his own resources and is looking for help. “I need volunteers and donations — a mattress, one dollar, or a two-by-four. Anything that will help,” he said.

Hammond is no stranger to seeking donations. He won the prestigious Jefferson Award March 17 for his humanitarian efforts. He has spent years travelling to flood-ravaged countrysides, hurricane-blasted tent cities — anywhere that he felt there was a need for a compassionate, caring heart.

“Whether in the aftermath of natural disasters across America or here in Maine offering assistance to veterans, your selflessness shines through as a beacon of hope for those in need,” U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe recently wrote to Hammond on his selection as a Jefferson Award winner.

“These are all good people,” said Hammond of “his” vets. “They are just lost. We have to address this homeless issue. It’s been at the bottom of our list for too long. We are forgetting why our country is free. It’s the blood we spilled on foreign soil, the blood of these men that are sleeping in doorways.”

“I found one veteran sitting on the street side in Winslow. Somebody has to come forward,” said Hammond. “Why not me?”

Hammond has personally sacrificed much for his causes. When he was in flood-torn Missouri last year, delivering blankets and food, the bank began foreclosure proceedings on his Rome home. “Some of my friends got wind of it and helped me out. Fleet Bank kept me in my home but they put everything — the car, the house — in my wife’s name. They figured I’d give it away. I have no money, but I’m the richest guy in the state.”

Hammond said “I have this dream. I am dedicated to the needs of our people.” A veteran of the Korean War himself, Hammond is urging Maine posts of the American Legion and Veterans’ of Foreign Wars to help in building and maintaining the shelter. He’s also asking for skilled and unskilled craftsmen to show up and volunteer a few hour’s work. “One thing I’ve come to discover in my travels,” he said, “is that Maine people are the most generous people in the country.”

“This goes far beyond just a home for these men and women,” said Hammond. “This is hope.”