Daily Excerpt: Helping the Disabled Veteran - Homeless Veterans (Romer)
This excerpt comes from Helping the Disabled Veteran (Joanna Romer)
Homeless Veterans
Drive
down any major thoroughfare in a medium to large-sized city, and you’re bound
to see this sign at an intersection: “Homeless Veteran. Please Help.” The sign
is usually being wielded by a man between 20 and 70 years old, bedraggled in
appearance and wearing a helpless expression on his face. Sometimes the sign
says, “Will work for food,” especially if the Veteran is on the younger side.
Sometimes the sign bearer is disabled, with just one leg, standing on crutches
or in a wheelchair.
What do
we do when we see such a person? The light changes and we drive on through the
intersection; or, if we’re feeling charitable, we put a dollar in the
outstretched cup. Sometimes if we get a look at the veteran’s face, a tear may
come to our eye: there’s something very
wrong about this situation.
The more
cynical among us may posit that the whole thing is an act—that the man with the sign is just a punk out to buy drugs
or scam the tourists. Maybe sometimes he is, but the truth is that there were
47,725 homeless veterans in the United States in January of 2015, according to
point-in-time counts in communities across the country (National Alliance to End
Homelessness). Although the number of homeless veterans has been decreasing
since 2009, the less cynical among us might say that there shouldn’t be any.
A
veteran is a man or woman who either enlisted or was drafted to serve in the military
and has now completed that military service. If the individual has had a bad
experience during his or her service—say,
facing traumatic situations during combat, or losing a limb or an eye—assimilating back into daily life may not be so easy. There
may be psychological problems, even if the veteran has not suffered an injury
or has not been traumatized. The psychological problems interfere with sleep;
sometimes they disrupt the veteran’s ability to hold a job. After a series of
dismissals from the work force—due to absences, poor performance,
moodiness or even lack of sociability on the job—the
veteran finds himself or herself unable to find work.
Now
what? The lucky ones move in with a family member: a brother, sister, parent,
or spouse if they’re married. But not all vets have family members with an
extra bedroom or even a couch to spare. Next comes application to various
agencies for help, but again, psychological problems can get in the way. Unless
the veteran has someone to run interference and demystify the red tape, it can
be a disheartening experience. Some vets simply aren’t up to it.
And so,
sadly, we come to the street. As troops returned from operations in
Afghanistan, the face of veteran homelessness changed: it is younger, more
female, and often includes heads of households. Despite this change, homeless
male veterans, most typically between the ages of 51 and 61, predominate. These
are the veterans who served during the Vietnam War.
During
times of homelessness, the veteran’s self-esteem plummets; it becomes
increasingly hard to even think of finding work. Alcohol and drugs may enter
the picture at this point, if they haven’t before, making the situation
hopeless. Basically, the veteran’s heart is broken. He or she has lost the will
to survive. Unless someone steps in to help, the veteran’s life may be lost.
Now
think about it: here is a man or woman whose only crime was to volunteer (or
perhaps be drafted) to help our country fight a war. Often the person was very
young when the decision was made, barely out of high school. Encouraged by
signs, such as, “Join the Navy! See the world!” the young person went in with
high expectations.
Whose
fault is it that things didn’t turn out as expected? We might say, “a stronger
character would have been able to pull himself out of that depression, not
succumb to the psychological problems.” Many veterans do pull themselves out,
despite having undergone harrowing experiences, but not all. The ones who can’t
or whose difficulties are so extreme that anybody facing them would be laid low—these veterans need our help.
************************
One
person who did respond to the call for help was William J. Wood, himself a
veteran of the Vietnam war, serving in the Army as a Warrant Officer. Wood had
a long association with the Vietnam Veterans of America organization, an
organization seeking quality health care for veterans with disabling injuries
and illnesses received during military service.
Wood’s
involvement with veterans didn’t stop there. Along with another veteran, he
founded the Veterans Incarcerated Program, which helps veterans get VA
benefits, provides counseling and assists with criminal justice issues. He
advocated for a local property tax levy to finance services for veterans and
was successful in helping the King County Veterans and Human Services Levy,
which provides additional services for veterans and their families, become a
reality.
Wood’s
work helping veterans did not go unrecognized. In 2016, the Multi-Service
Center, a non-profit organization in South King County, Washington that seeks
to address poverty and homelessness, named its new 13 million dollar housing
facility for veterans in his memory. The William J Wood Veterans House in
Federal Way, Washington, which opened in December of 2016, offers 44 one, two
and three bedroom units to veterans and their families. The project was
developed in partnership with Shelter Resources Incorporated and will be
furnished and eligible for rental subsides through the HUD VASH Program in
collaboration with King County Housing Authority.
The
project came about in response to the Multi-Service Center’s work with King
County veterans, who identified housing and employment assistance as being
among their greatest needs. The William J Wood Veterans House not only provides
housing, but also offers on-site services to assist veterans who may be having
trouble re-entering the job market (Vietnam Veterans of America).
Other
on-site services include case management, child advocacy, and classes in basic
education, financial management, technology skills and job readiness. Veterans
House amenities include on-site parking, an exercise room, community rooms,
computer labs and security.
On its
flyer, the William J Wood Veterans House reads: “Veterans, if you are homeless,
call 877-904-8387.” Residents need to be referred through the VA, but all
homeless or imminently homeless veterans and their families are eligible.
***************
Equally
inspiring is Camp Bravo in Arizona, on Tucson’s south side. Here, homeless
veterans can find shelter and food, as well as some TLC, at a camp run by
Veterans on Patrol.
According
to Martin Marszalek, the Base Commander and Chief Medical Officer of Camp
Bravo, the program’s mission is to find as many homeless veterans as they can
locate and bring them in (Riley).
The
leaders of Camp Bravo offer a safe haven, as well as assistance with those
support services so badly needed by veterans. The objectives of Camp Bravo are
to transition veterans from homelessness to housing and to find the veterans
the medical care they need and have been doing without.
Camp Bravo, officially known as
Bravo Base, is one of several in Arizona, including Camp Alpha in Phoenix, Camp
Charlie in Nogales, and Camp Delta, South of Prescott. These camps have
portable toilets, donated and maintained by Diggins Environmental Services, as
well as land, water, and electricity provided by HMS Fasteners. Food, clothing
and other supplies are donated by the public (Riley).
There
are eight rules for living at Camp Bravo, which is partially supported by
donations from the public. These rules include no drugs, no alcohol, no smoking
in the tents, and a requirement to help out on the base on a daily basis. All
the residents of Camp Bravo have tasks assigned to them, which they are more
than happy to do.
***********************
A
one-of-a-kind VA outreach program in San Diego carries the mission to help
homeless veterans to a new level. A big RV from the US Department of Veterans
Affairs goes out every Friday in search of these veterans, driven by a group of
seasoned social workers.
Included
are professionals from Supportive Services for Veteran Families, looking for
veterans who meet a housing program’s requirements. The program, based on
grants from the VA, will provide a deposit and the first month’s rent (Steele).
Other
members of the VA Homeless Outreach RV Team include the San Marcos Vet Center
and Mission Viejo Vet Center, the Veterans Benefits Administration San Diego
regional office, Veterans Village of San Diego, Veterans Community Services,
PATH (People Assisting the Homeless), and Courage to Call.
One in
ten of the veterans interviewed during the Friday outreach drive will end up
with full-time housing, but ten out of ten will receive information and
assistance to help them change the direction of their lives, according to the
program’s outreach specialist, Janelle Johnson (Steele).
The
program, which began three years ago, along with other efforts to end
homelessness among veterans, has led to a significant dent in the problem, with
San Diego reporting a nearly one-third decline (Steele).
******************
The
principle of the Vietnam Veterans of America organization, with which William J
Wood was so involved, was, “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon
another.”
Judging
by the commitment of its founders to this program, and also to Camp Bravo and
the VA Homeless Outreach Team, we might add: “Never again will we, the people
of the United States, abandon our veterans.”
For more books by Joanna Romer, click HERE.
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