SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Standing Up for Homeless Vets at 'Stand Downs'
Aug 19, 2010
PLEASANTON, California -
More than 400 homeless veterans from across northern California relaxed
in comfort at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.
The occasion - a "Stand Down", where the homeless veterans were given access to good food, clean clothes, showers and beds.
A
group of veterans stayed in camouflage canvas tents, met with
employment counselors and even made their case to superior court
judges, who prescribed modest penalties in exchange for dropping
charges related to failed appearances on old warrants. Such warrants
often started as unpaid traffic tickets, but the charges escalated as
they were ignored.
"The good thing about the East Bay Stand Down
is they can get the services they need," said Army Reserve Capt. Tonya
Pacheco, who helped handle logistics for the event.
"If they
need counseling - whatever they need it's available to them," she said.
"A lot of veterans will have the opportunity to turn their lives
around."
100,000 Homeless Vets
Nationally, the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that on any given night more than
100,000 veterans are homeless, with double that number experiencing
homelessness in the course of a year.
Conservatively, the
National Council for Homeless Veterans estimates that one out of three
homeless men sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in U.S. cities and
rural communities has put on a uniform and served the country.
About
half of homeless veterans served their country during the Vietnam
years, and service providers say they are beginning to see disturbing
numbers of veterans recently back from Iraq and Afghanistan living in
their cars or couch surfing with family, friends or wherever they can
crash.
According to the VA, 56 percent of homeless vets are
African American, even though nearly 80 percent of U.S. military
veterans are white.
As a blazing sun shone down on the
fairgrounds, John Morgan sat under a large tent in the centre of the
Stand Down, a computer thumb drive around his neck.
"I just got a
resume made, and they gave me a flash drive," Morgan said. "I needed
to get that done 'cause I wanted to go back to work."
A U.S.
Army veteran, Morgan served as a medic in the burn unit at Brooke Army
Medical Center in San Antonio in the years following the Vietnam War.
When he got out of the military in the early 1980s, the Vacaville
native started snorting cocaine, then dealing it.
"I would work a
job and save a lot of money. And then I would get a bundle of coke,
and I would sell and I would use.& Inevitably, I would go into jail
or get in some kind of thing with the police," he said.
This
year, Morgan caught a break. An official from the Department of
Veterans Affairs visited him at San Luis Obispo State Prison and told
him about the Homeless Veteran Rehabilitation Programme (HVRP), a
supportive housing facility on the VA campus in Menlo Park.
A month ago, when he was released from prison, Morgan went straight to the facility.
"HVRP
saved my life," he said. Now he's trying to make sure he has a way to
support himself once he graduates from their program.
Morgan is
comparably lucky to get a space at HVRP. According to the VA, for the
more than 12,000 homeless veterans in Northern California, there are
only about 400 transitional housing beds.
That's why the Stand
Downs are so important - for one weekend this year, every veteran who
showed up got the help they needed.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
PLEASANTON, California -
More than 400 homeless veterans from across northern California relaxed
in comfort at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.
The occasion - a "Stand Down", where the homeless veterans were given access to good food, clean clothes, showers and beds.
A
group of veterans stayed in camouflage canvas tents, met with
employment counselors and even made their case to superior court
judges, who prescribed modest penalties in exchange for dropping
charges related to failed appearances on old warrants. Such warrants
often started as unpaid traffic tickets, but the charges escalated as
they were ignored.
"The good thing about the East Bay Stand Down
is they can get the services they need," said Army Reserve Capt. Tonya
Pacheco, who helped handle logistics for the event.
"If they
need counseling - whatever they need it's available to them," she said.
"A lot of veterans will have the opportunity to turn their lives
around."
100,000 Homeless Vets
Nationally, the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that on any given night more than
100,000 veterans are homeless, with double that number experiencing
homelessness in the course of a year.
Conservatively, the
National Council for Homeless Veterans estimates that one out of three
homeless men sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in U.S. cities and
rural communities has put on a uniform and served the country.
About
half of homeless veterans served their country during the Vietnam
years, and service providers say they are beginning to see disturbing
numbers of veterans recently back from Iraq and Afghanistan living in
their cars or couch surfing with family, friends or wherever they can
crash.
According to the VA, 56 percent of homeless vets are
African American, even though nearly 80 percent of U.S. military
veterans are white.
As a blazing sun shone down on the
fairgrounds, John Morgan sat under a large tent in the centre of the
Stand Down, a computer thumb drive around his neck.
"I just got a
resume made, and they gave me a flash drive," Morgan said. "I needed
to get that done 'cause I wanted to go back to work."
A U.S.
Army veteran, Morgan served as a medic in the burn unit at Brooke Army
Medical Center in San Antonio in the years following the Vietnam War.
When he got out of the military in the early 1980s, the Vacaville
native started snorting cocaine, then dealing it.
"I would work a
job and save a lot of money. And then I would get a bundle of coke,
and I would sell and I would use.& Inevitably, I would go into jail
or get in some kind of thing with the police," he said.
This
year, Morgan caught a break. An official from the Department of
Veterans Affairs visited him at San Luis Obispo State Prison and told
him about the Homeless Veteran Rehabilitation Programme (HVRP), a
supportive housing facility on the VA campus in Menlo Park.
A month ago, when he was released from prison, Morgan went straight to the facility.
"HVRP
saved my life," he said. Now he's trying to make sure he has a way to
support himself once he graduates from their program.
Morgan is
comparably lucky to get a space at HVRP. According to the VA, for the
more than 12,000 homeless veterans in Northern California, there are
only about 400 transitional housing beds.
That's why the Stand
Downs are so important - for one weekend this year, every veteran who
showed up got the help they needed.
PLEASANTON, California -
More than 400 homeless veterans from across northern California relaxed
in comfort at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.
The occasion - a "Stand Down", where the homeless veterans were given access to good food, clean clothes, showers and beds.
A
group of veterans stayed in camouflage canvas tents, met with
employment counselors and even made their case to superior court
judges, who prescribed modest penalties in exchange for dropping
charges related to failed appearances on old warrants. Such warrants
often started as unpaid traffic tickets, but the charges escalated as
they were ignored.
"The good thing about the East Bay Stand Down
is they can get the services they need," said Army Reserve Capt. Tonya
Pacheco, who helped handle logistics for the event.
"If they
need counseling - whatever they need it's available to them," she said.
"A lot of veterans will have the opportunity to turn their lives
around."
100,000 Homeless Vets
Nationally, the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that on any given night more than
100,000 veterans are homeless, with double that number experiencing
homelessness in the course of a year.
Conservatively, the
National Council for Homeless Veterans estimates that one out of three
homeless men sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in U.S. cities and
rural communities has put on a uniform and served the country.
About
half of homeless veterans served their country during the Vietnam
years, and service providers say they are beginning to see disturbing
numbers of veterans recently back from Iraq and Afghanistan living in
their cars or couch surfing with family, friends or wherever they can
crash.
According to the VA, 56 percent of homeless vets are
African American, even though nearly 80 percent of U.S. military
veterans are white.
As a blazing sun shone down on the
fairgrounds, John Morgan sat under a large tent in the centre of the
Stand Down, a computer thumb drive around his neck.
"I just got a
resume made, and they gave me a flash drive," Morgan said. "I needed
to get that done 'cause I wanted to go back to work."
A U.S.
Army veteran, Morgan served as a medic in the burn unit at Brooke Army
Medical Center in San Antonio in the years following the Vietnam War.
When he got out of the military in the early 1980s, the Vacaville
native started snorting cocaine, then dealing it.
"I would work a
job and save a lot of money. And then I would get a bundle of coke,
and I would sell and I would use.& Inevitably, I would go into jail
or get in some kind of thing with the police," he said.
This
year, Morgan caught a break. An official from the Department of
Veterans Affairs visited him at San Luis Obispo State Prison and told
him about the Homeless Veteran Rehabilitation Programme (HVRP), a
supportive housing facility on the VA campus in Menlo Park.
A month ago, when he was released from prison, Morgan went straight to the facility.
"HVRP
saved my life," he said. Now he's trying to make sure he has a way to
support himself once he graduates from their program.
Morgan is
comparably lucky to get a space at HVRP. According to the VA, for the
more than 12,000 homeless veterans in Northern California, there are
only about 400 transitional housing beds.
That's why the Stand
Downs are so important - for one weekend this year, every veteran who
showed up got the help they needed.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.