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.
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