Stand Down Helps Vets Stand Up at Homeless Vet Event
Traffic patterns were anything but normal in and around the Gulf Coast VA’s Joint Ambulatory Care Center on Veteran’s Way Friday.
Dozens of cars were parked in the lots, and on the curbs and grass as hundreds of military veterans walked from tent to tent at the Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System’s annual homeless veterans stand down event.
“What we’re primarily doing is reaching out to all the homeless veterans in the community,” said Eric Oleson, VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System Homeless Program manager.
“The other big piece is it’s not just the VA offering the services. We bring in veteran service organizations, other community providers, safe space organizations. So it’s very much a collaborative community effort to focus on helping homeless veterans.”
The event includes employment agencies, hospices, health care agencies, volunteers, schools, nursing and primary care, Oleson said. The organizations work together to assess every veteran and link them up with other services that could help them beyond the event.
After veterans register at the arrival tent, they’re able to visit other agency tents and get helpful resources on how to acquire housing, enroll in health care benefits, and pick up donations such as clothing, shoes and sleeping bags.
A popular tent at the event was the hair cutting station, where vets were able to get free haircuts from students in the Pensacola State College Cosmetology Club.
Jessica Rosado of PSC, a first-time VA stand down event volunteer, said vets were standing in lines to get their hair cut.
“They’re just taking advantage and they’re very appreciative,” she said. “They tell exactly what they want when they sit in the chair and we’re able to do it.”
Richard Goodman, 59, who served in the Air Force from 1973 to 1977, heard about the stand down from staff at a veteran’s home program here in Pensacola.
“I’m having a good time and really enjoying [the event],” he said.
At the clothing distribution tent, veterans were able to fill their camo bags with an assortment of surplus uniform items and sleeping bags.
“We just try to do what we can to give them a helping hand,” said Covenant Hospice volunteer and former Navy sailor Jeanne Jordan.
Pvt. Elijah Recoder, also volunteering with clothing distribution, said he wanted to give back to the veterans who risked their lives protecting our country.
“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here doing the things that we do,” Recoder said. “They fought in the wars that none of us would ever think of fighting in… and I believe that we should give back.”
Another popular tent veterans crowded around was the 90Works tent.
90Works, with the mission of helping veterans overcome “homelessness, poverty and family violence by becoming self-sufficient,” offers vets an opportunity to take advantage of a 90-day self sufficiency program.
Isaac Crawford, volunteering with 90Works, said the program assists vets with finances, securing housing and more, helping them to go on and be successful. The organization has a success rate of 90 percent.
“We have a lot of veterans that have used our program, and they’re now housed and they’re just coming by to give us feedback,” Crawford said. “And then we have other veterans that are looking for assistance.”
The Gulf Coast VA has been hosting stand downs for 10 years with four or five being in Pensacola. While the event is popular, the number of veterans is decreasing due to the assistance they’ve been able to get through the various stand down event agencies.
Jerron Barnett, Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System Public Affairs, said even though veterans get a lot of resources at the event on various types of assistance they can receive, the help doesn’t stop there.
“We connect with them, figure out what their circumstances are, and if they’re eligible for our programs our case workers will continue that process with them beyond what the stand down represents,” Barnett said.
“And if we can’t help them because they’re not eligible for whatever reason, there’s other agencies here that might be able to, that are community-based.”
Tags: Veterans News
