The Long Way Home
by Matt Davison
     

For thousands of veterans, the Vietnam War is not over. It is still taking lives. They’d have to build a wall several times as tall to record the names of all who have fallen since coming home. Many committed suicide. Some just popped and went off like rounds in an overheated gun. Many could not hold down a job and drifted into homelessness, stripped of dignity and pride, just trying to survive. Thirty-plus years after Vietnam, so many who survived the bullets and land mines are lost in a world that has passed them by, wishing only for a chance to finally go home. So why, you might ask, would someone who made a career on the creative side of the advertising industry want to chuck life in the fast lane and jump feet first in the middle of all this despair. Maybe it was time for me to leave a footprint on this land before checking out. Maybe because of the fact that I’m a vet and they are forever my brothers and sisters. And while I didn’t serve In Country, I did serve and I am of that generation. Lastly, I felt that these brothers and sisters got screwed twice. First, they got hoodwinked into fighting a war they wouldn’t be given the opportunity to win, and then they were treated like perpetrators of the war instead of the politicians, who were really responsible. These courageous men and women needed an advocate, and that’s what I decided to be for the rest of my life.
   

The Forgotten

On any given night there are the equivalent of 17 infantry divisions on the streets of this great nation with no place to call home. These are men and women who served our nation during its greatest times of need and now live without shelter or employment, food or medical care. They are the once young men and women now aging who we sent abroad to defend our country but cast aside upon their return. They are our country’s forgotten heroes, those who at one time may have been awarded a Medal of Honor or Purple Heart. I’ve sat with these guys, listened to them. I know that there are decorated vets out there, sleeping on concrete, and it fills me with rage. I know too, that there are those who have walked away from America. You might find them, if you search hard enough, deep in the wooded area of parks, in encampments protected by dogs and baseball bats. You enter at your own risk. They abandoned us after we abandoned them and called them ‘baby killers.’ And they’re not coming back.

For those vets still waiting to be welcomed home, it’s up to me and people like you and I to remove the barriers that have prevented their transition to self-sufficiency. In order to do this we need to provide them with access to food and clothing, substance abuse recovery, PTSD and mental health programs, transitional housing, training and employment opportunities. Luckily, I hooked up with Joint Efforts, Inc., a non-profit community service agency located in San Pedro, California. That was two years ago, before this agency had any kind of program in place to help homeless vets. I introduced them to a federally funded homeless vets program, and we went for it. Today, we are entering our second year of funding so that we can give back the "American Dream" that was promised but denied for so long. First, we need to get our brothers and sisters off the streets, and into a safe place so they don’t have to spend 24/7 worrying about how they’re going to survive. Then, we need to focus on preparing them for the workplace. If these vets don’t know jack about computers, we teach them. If they don’t know how to interview, we teach them. If they don’t have interview clothing, we find some for them. In the end, it’s having and keeping a job with decent pay and benefits that is the key to ending veteran homelessness.
   

Changes

I first met Mike, a U.S. Army veteran, at the Long Beach Stand Down nearly four years ago. We lost touch, as often happens with homeless vets, but bumped into one another a year ago. Mike is just one of the homeless vets who has taken advantage of the services offered by our agency, and here is what he’s got to say…“This agency has helped me ever since September 6th 2001. I was homeless and in a recovery program. I had no source of income. Upon my first visit,, I was enrolled into the homeless vets program and was immediately assisted in finding a place to live. Since then, I’ve been given access to the their Computer Lab and enrolled in computer classes such as Word and Excel, as well as learning how to utilize the Internet for employment information. Through the guidance of my Case Manager and Job Developer, I have been able to attend Veterans Workshops in order to learn how to prepare for employment, and have already interviewed for three job prospects. I believe I am now on the verge of being hired by one of the prospects any day now. This agency and these people have given me an entirely new perspective on life, and for that, I am thankful.” Mike did get that job and has been working full-time for seventeen months, been named employer of the year, has a drivers license, car, credit card, and even a cell phone. Best of all, he’s working on his BA at a nearby college.

Robert, an Air Force Vet, managed to drag himself into the agency on the referral of another Vet who was helped by us. He was rain soaked from being on the street the night before and battling the effects of a crack addiction. The first thing we had to do was to get Robert into a recovery program. My partner and I cleaned him up, got some food into him, packed him up in the agency van and headed to a recovery center. Robert returned from the recovery center six weeks later, a changed man. He was cautiously optimistic about his life, even hopeful. Robert wanted to learn how to use the computer, and enrolled in our free computer classes. When he was ready, he told us it was time for him to go back to work. Through an employer partner, we got Robert into training and a full-time position. Robert went full circle, from an addiction-clouded street existence to clean and sober self-sufficiency.

These are not isolated events. We’ve been able to assist nearly 100 homeless vets in our first year of operation, and we’re in the process of assisting another 100. Sadly, the program doesn’t work for every homeless vet who enters our doors. Some relapse into substance abuse, some fall off the edge of the world and we never hear from or see them again. Some are just not ready. They may never be ready. And then, there are those alienated vets who will never reach for our extended hand. I think, of all the services we provide to our homeless brothers and sisters, the most important thing we do is to listen. Many of these men and women are carrying around a lot of baggage that goes back a long way. We need to encourage them to get rid of that baggage, and we need to listen when they do. We need to let them know that it’s okay to let it out, and we need to be there when they need someone to hold onto.
   

Pay Back

In light of 9-11, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is even more reasons to reach out to those now forgotten veterans who have defended our country in other times of peril, and in memory of all those who have perished in defense of America’s freedom. It takes a network of partnerships to be able to provide a full range of services to those vets left outside the wire. No one entity can provide this complex set of requirements without developing relationships with other community resources. More than ever before, it is time for us all to say ‘welcome home and thank you’ to those who have served, and to lend a hand up to those who struggle to take their rightful place in our society. We owe these men and women big time, and today is the day for pay back.

   

   

© 2003 by Matt Davison. Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275, USA. All Rights Reserved.
Used with permission from the author.