Organization

History

Helping Our Brothers & Sisters (HOBS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. It began as an annual dinner gathering held every November 10th honoring the Marine Corps and veterans who have served their country. Those in attendance created HOBS out of a desire to provide hope and assistance to GLBT individuals whose options have been exhausted.

Staff

HOBS has no paid staff. However, we have a great group of volunteers and dedicated board members. The organization is also fortunate to benefit from the guidance of Dr. Marvin Carter, a businessman who was a Major in the United States Marine Corps; noted accountant John Wall, CPA; and early board members Michael Grainger, a business leader from Charlotesville, VA; Poly Stamatopoulos, a 25 year veteran of non-profit leadership and former Service Members Legal Defense Network Development Director (SLDN); and David Chase, a paralegal manager for a major law firm.

Board

Marvin Carter
Major Marvin Carter was discharged from the Marine Corps for being gay in 1985, less than a month after awarding him the Department of Defense Joint Service Commendation Medal and rating him the highest in his peer group evaluations. Marvin holds multiple degrees and has studied at an array of our nation's top universities, which include Wake Forest University, University of Southern California, Defense Intelligence University, and Georgetown University.

David Chase
Mr. Chase currently works as a Paralegal Supervisor for a major law firm in Washington, DC. He graduated in 1984 from Frostburg State College with a B.S. in Education, Speech Communication, and Theatre.


Polly Stamatopolous
Ms. Stamatopolous is a 25 year veteran of non-profit leadership and former Service Members Legal Defense Network Development Director

Michael Grainger
Mr. Grainger is an accountant for a private firm in Charlottesville, VA. He graduated from West Virginia University in 1977.

John Wall, CPA
John Wall has been a certified public accountant since 1991. Throughout his nearly 23 years in public accounting, he has had experience working for small firms and medium-sized accounting firms. In addition, he has worked as a consultant on various projects with other entities.

John J. Wall, CPA is a firm that has office locations in the Washington, DC and Chicago areas, and has clients in about 20 states plus DC. Mr. Wall graduated from Western New England College in 1988.

Dan Olmsted
Mr. Olmsted is a longtime journalist and author of "The Age of Autism," published in 2010 by Thomas Dunne Books. He edits a web site of the same name and lives in Falls Church, Va. He is a member of the National Press Club..


Advisory Board:

Thomas Wischer
Thomas Bailey

Helping our Brothers and Sisters
Office Address
1318 U Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009

Mailing Address
Post Office Box 53477
Washington, DC 20009
Tel. 202-986-6317