BEARDEN, Ark.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 2026--
U.S. Army Reserve veteran Master Sergeant (Ret.) Jeffery Darrough, who served 26 years, including tours in Iraq and Kuwait, received a $15,000 Housing Assistance for Veterans (HAVEN) grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) to fund significant repairs in his longtime home. The grant was provided through FBT Bank & Mortgage, an FHLB Dallas member institution.
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Mr. Darrough, 59, first connected with FHLB Dallas and FBT Bank & Mortgage in 2021, when he received a $10,000 HAVEN grant that enabled him to complete major home improvements such as installing new flooring and plumbing.
Now 59, Mr. Darrough noticed that parts of his home once again needed attention. His shower floor had begun to sink, making it unsafe to use. The central HVAC unit was more than 25 years old and increasingly unreliable. With help from the latest HAVEN grant, Mr. Darrough rebuilt the shower and installed a new HVAC unit.
“I was delighted when I learned the grant was approved,” said Mr. Darrough. “The new shower has made everyday life easier and safer, and the new HVAC unit gives us comfort year-round. HAVEN helped me in 2021, and it helped me again when I needed it most. I’m very appreciative of what FHLB Dallas and FBT Bank & Mortgage do for veterans.”
HAVEN provides grants for home modifications, new construction or down payment assistance to help veterans, reservists and active-duty service members with service-related disabilities. It can also be used by Gold Star Families. Grants are awarded through participating FHLB Dallas member financial institutions, like FBT Bank & Mortgage.
“Serving veterans is a privilege, and HAVEN allows us to directly support those who have given so much,” said FBT Bank & Mortgage Assistant Vice President Daniel Pledger. “Mr. Darrough’s story demonstrates how important it is to have resources that veterans can turn to when challenges come up. We’re grateful to work with FHLB Dallas to make that support possible.”
FHLB Dallas allocated $1 million for HAVEN grants in 2026, with the funding distributed in two rounds. The next funding round of $500,000 opens July 1, 2026.
“FHLB Dallas stands firmly beside our nation’s veterans, ensuring they have access to the housing support they need,” said Greg Hettrick, senior vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. “Whether it’s a home purchase, a home repair or supporting Gold Star Families, the HAVEN program can be a reliable source of assistance for veterans throughout their homeownership journey.”
HAVEN grants are provided only through FHLB Dallas members. FHLB Dallas does not provide grants directly to consumers . Learn more about the HAVEN program.
About FBT Bank & Mortgage
FBT Bank & Mortgage is a full-service bank established in 1931. Now operating in five locations, FBT Bank and Mortgage is focused on the communities it serves, offering state-of-the-art products and services while delivering personalized attention to customers. To learn more, go to fbtbank.com.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $97.1 billion as of March 31, 2026, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 780 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit fhlb.com.
A U.S. Army Reserve veteran stands outside his home where major repairs were completed thanks to a $15,000 Housing Assistance for Veterans (HAVEN) grant from FHLB Dallas, provided through FBT Bank & Mortgage.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Residents of Lithuania's capital were told to take shelter and the country's president and prime minister were taken to safe locations Wednesday because of an alarm over drone activity near the border with Belarus, underlining jitters on NATO's eastern flank over incursions related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
An emergency announcement from the military urged people in the Vilnius region to “immediately head to a shelter or a safe place.”
The alert, which lasted for about an hour, also led to the closure of the airspace over Vilnius Airport. President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were taken to shelters, and there was also an evacuation order at Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, the BNS news agency reported.
It was the first major alert that sent residents and political leaders in a European Union and NATO capital rushing to shelters since Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbor Ukraine in February 2022.
It came hours after a NATO jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that “unintended incident,” without specifying what had happened.
Lithuania borders Russia-allied Belarus to the east and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to the west. Wednesday’s alert came after the military said it detected drone activity in Belarus, but no drones were sighted over Lithuania.
“Based on the parameters we saw, it’s most likely either a combat drone or a drone designed to deceive systems and lure targets,” Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center, said in a news briefing. It wasn't possible to ascertain whether the drone had a warhead, he said.
Belarus reported the potential drone to Lithuania and neighboring Latvia, according to Brig. Gen. Nerijus Stankevicius, commander of the Lithuanian Army’s Land Forces.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte commended the alliance’s reaction to several drone incidents in recent days, saying Wednesday in Brussels that they had been met with “a calm, decisive and proportionate response.”
Vilnius resident Maryia Malevich said she was terrified when the alert sounded.
“I and my colleagues, we went downstairs and waited probably for 30 minutes" before the all-clear notification came, she said. “We were unprepared and we didn’t know what we should do. And even now, we don’t know what really happened.”
Another Vilnius resident, Iuliia Dudkina, said she wasn't scared because her friends live in Israel and frequently have to head to shelters. She said her husband had a different reaction.
“He was actually very worried and asked me to take our dog and go downstairs to the underground garage. So I did it," Dudkina said. “There were no people except me. So I guess no one really got very scared.”
In recent months, Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have crossed or come down in NATO territory on numerous occasions. Western officials have blamed what they say is likely Russian electronic jamming of the drones. Russia, meanwhile, has renewed threats that it would retaliate if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries or if those countries are complicit in their use against Russia.
“Russia is deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace while waging smear campaigns” against Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said late Tuesday. “It’s a transparent act of desperation — an attempt to sow chaos and distract from a simple reality: (Ukraine) is hitting the Russian military machine hard.”
Last week, Latvia’s government collapsed following a dispute over the handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine.
In a recent escalation of aerial attacks, Russia and Ukraine have sometimes fired hundreds of drones a day at each other.
Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that it shot down 131 out of 154 drones that Russia launched overnight. The ones that got past air defenses killed three civilians and wounded 18 others, including two children, officials said.
Ukraine, meanwhile, continued its aerial campaign against Russia’s vital oil industry, with the General Staff reporting its drones struck a major Russian oil refinery and a pipeline pumping station overnight.
Russian media reports also indicated that a chemical plant in the southern Stavropol region was hit and caught fire, although local officials didn’t confirm any direct hit.
The U.K. government, a strong supporter of Ukraine's war effort, loosened sanctions Wednesday on Russian oil refined into diesel and jet fuel in third countries as prices rise and fears grow about supplies due to the Iran war.
That step comes two days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington was granting a 30-day extension for countries to import Russian oil that is already in tankers at sea.
The move, designed to reduce the oil supply shortages, marked a continued policy reversal by the Trump administration, which had previously said the sanctions on Russian oil would resume. Originally announced in early March, the temporary waiver on the sanctions was first renewed in April.
Siarhei Satsiuk in Vilnius, Lithuania, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine, Kostya Manenkov in Tallinn, Estonia, and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal contributed to this report.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
People take shelter in an underground car park during an air raid alert in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Vygintas Skaraitis/Lrytas via AP)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
People take shelter in an underground car park during an air raid alert in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Vygintas Skaraitis/Lrytas via AP)
People take shelter in an underground car park during an air raid alert in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Vygintas Skaraitis/Lrytas via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged after a Russian strike on Konotop, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
