Service groups team up for homeless veterans in Colorado

Local veteran services organizations come together to help homeless vets

FOX 21 News

Taylor Bishop

October 16, 2018

"I came close to losing my home a few times. This program was very near and dear to me because of what it has done for the community as well as me giving back to those that had given to me my whole life," said Littler.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Defending those who have defended our freedom, the 20th Annual El Paso County Homeless Veterans Stand Down took place Tuesday, at the Colorado Springs City Auditorium.

Close to 200 homeless veterans in the community got the chance to connect with employment, housing, and health services, all in one place.

Veterans in need were also given new clothing and flu shots for the coming winter season.

Brian Wess with the El Paso County Homeless Veterans Coalition said, "If you're living in the barracks and you have your meals, three a day, your focus is on training to kill the enemy. Your focus isn't on how to live your life and pay bills every day and it's a completely different skill set that a lot of them, if they go in at 18 or 19 years old, they don't necessarily get if they haven't gotten it from their parents growing up."

Twenty-two year Army veteran Mitchell Littler says it was the fellowship and camaraderie through the VFW that helped pull him out of tough times, which is why he's been using this event to give back to his fellow vets for the past four years.

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PTSD and other challenges recover and take back their lives

NDVets Host Annual Gala To Honor And Benefit Veterans

Patch California
By Emily Holland, Patch Staff
Oct 13, 2018

The event will feature a demo of "Mind at War," a VR experience that provides a look into an Iraq War veteran's struggle with PTSD.

SANTA MONICA, CA – New Directions for Veterans (NDVets), a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive housing and development services to homeless and at-risk veterans, will host its annual Veterans Canteen gala to benefit homeless veterans Saturday at the Skirball Cultural Center.

NDVets is based on the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus and provides housing and social services to about 1,800 veterans each year. The organization has served veterans facing homelessness, PTSD and other challenges recover and take back their lives for more than 25 years, the press release said. The event will honor community leaders and media for their support and advocacy for veterans.

"The Veterans Canteen gala is our opportunity to honor both our veterans and those advocating for them," said USMC Capt. (Ret) Leo Cuadrado, Chief Operating Officer of NDVets. "As more and more veterans return home from overseas conflicts, they will need our support now more than ever, and we are grateful to know we have the support of our partners and the community behind us to help raise the much-need funds to continue providing life-saving services to veterans seeking help."
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OK! Looks like changing the conversation is catching on!

Have them beat on the number of years too but that's OK too! From what I hear, New Directions for Veterans are doing great work.

Baird Asher from Air Force, to homeless veteran, to discovered artist

Homeless Air Force veteran and street artist receives national attention after stranger buys his work

ABC 13 NEWS

Deborah Wrigley

October 11, 2018

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As cars travel over a creek on a Katy Freeway service road, yards beneath out of view, a homeless vet applies paint to plywood, creating art.

It is where Baird Asher has lived for two months after he caught a ride to Houston from New Orleans, where he was a street artist. As an Air Force veteran who was an aircraft mechanic, "I can put an engine together," he said, but his real calling is his art.

"I'm an artist, and this is what I do," he said. "I don't necessarily refuse to do anything else, but this is what God gave me the talent to do."

Technically, Asher is homeless.

"I live under a highway bridge," he said with a laugh. But he needed the kindness of strangers to eat.

Two days ago, he was standing at an intersection with a sign that read, "Hungry Vet." That caught the eye of Suzanne Coppola, who was stopped at the light. At his feet was one of his paintings. It got Coppola's attention.

"I parked illegally and talked to him," she said. "He had an amazing story, and he's an amazing artist and I put it on my Facebook page, asking the creative community if we could do something for him."

The response amazed Coppola.

"I have artists contacting me about ideas they have for him, and a gallery owner from Dallas, who also has a gallery in Miami, asked to buy all his paintings," she said.
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Homeless veteran James Clyde Hutchens Jr., 56 died in shelter

UPDATE

LEXINGTON, SC (FOX Carolina) - Officials in the Midlands have found family members of an Army veteran who died in a Lexington County homeless shelter earlier this month.

This SC veteran died at a homeless shelter. Can you help find his family?
The State
Teddy Kulmala
September 28, 2018

The Lexington County Coroner’s Office needs help locating family for James Clyde Hutchens Jr., an Army veteran who died earlier this month at a shelter for homeless veterans. The Lexington County Coroner’s Office needs help locating family for James Clyde Hutchens Jr., an Army veteran who died earlier this month at a shelter for homeless veterans. Lexington County Coroner's Office

LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC
Coroner’s officials need help locating the family of an Army veteran who died this month at a homeless shelter in Lexington County.

James Clyde Hutchens Jr., 56, died Sept. 13 of natural causes at a shelter for homeless veterans, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher, whose office has been unable to locate any family for the veteran.

Fisher’s office has limited information. She said they believe Hutchens, whose date of birth is Aug. 1, 1962, has some possible ties to family in Spartanburg, but they still have been unable to locate any next of kin.
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Panama City Florida Homeless Veterans Treated Like Part of Community

Community reaches out to help local homeless veterans
WJHG ABC 7 News
September 27, 2018

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Dozens of community groups, including CareerSource Gulf Coast, held a Stand Down Thursday in downtown Panama City.

"This is our 11th one that we've done and we've brought together maybe 50 or so organizations, state agencies, private businesses in the community," Director of Workforce Services for CareerSource Gulf Coast Lee Ellzey said.

It helps our local homeless veterans get back on their feet.

"They're giving out toiletries," Ellzey explained. "They're giving out clothes. They're giving out housing vouchers."

The Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs reported 2,789 homeless vets in Florida last year, and it hits close to home for Andrea Kennedy, a local homeless veteran.

"It's overwhelming in a good way and I'm blessed," she said.
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From Panama City news Herald

Marine veteran lives on streets at 73

He plays guitar downtown for money. What he really wants is a shower and a home
SAN LUIS OBISPO TRIBUNE
BY MONICA VAUGHAN
September 24, 2018

If you’ve recently strolled through downtown San Luis Obispo in the afternoon or Pismo Beach in the evening, you’ve probably seen or heard Jon Akeman. He’s the guy with long white hair, a patriotic bandana, guitar strapped over his shoulder and harmonica braced around his neck.

Known to locals as Dr. Jon the Citizen, Akeman, 73, serenades pedestrians with classic songs by Bob Dylan, Neil Young or the Eagles.

“I get a thrill of people going by, smiling at me when I play. Plus, I get a little money on the side,” he said, sitting on a bench in front of Ross Dress for Less on Higuera Street on a recent Thursday afternoon. “That’s my job, to make people happy.”
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Nashville steps up for disabled homeless veteran after wheelchair was stolen

Homeless Nashville Marine sees outpouring of support, receives new wheelchair
FOX 17 News
Alex Apple
September 21, 2018

"It's the right thing to do. He didn't ask to be in this situation," Terry Mobley said. "Things happen and it's good that we still have good people around that look after one another."

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A homeless Marine living in Nashville has seen an outpouring of support.

Edward Kendall, known as Too Tall, lost all of his toes to frost bite. On top of that, someone stole his wheelchair a few days ago.

Now, people in Nashville have stepped up to help him out.

Too Tall said the hardest part of living on the streets is finding a place to lay your head. He said he usually sleeps under a box. He struggles to walk after frost bite led to him losing half of his feet earlier this year.

A thief stole his wheelchair, so FOX 17 News did last night what he was too proud to do - ask for Nashville's help. And the people of Nashville responded.

Two good Samaritans brought Too Tall what he called "two Cadillacs" - one wheelchair to use and another ready to roll, with help from Ed Medical Supply.
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Famous homeless veteran cannot get donated money?

Famous ex-homeless veteran money troubles again?

Johnny Bobbitt can't get the rest of his money from people who set up the GoFundme? Is it really up to them?

In an interview with the Inquirer last week, D'Amico said he controls the money and will start dispensing it when Bobbitt gets a job and stops using drugs.

"Giving him all that money, it's never going to happen. I'll burn it in front of him," he said, adding that giving an "addict" the money would be like "giving him a loaded gun."

Bobbitt admitted to the paper that the couple once gave him $25,000 and he spent it on giving it to relatives and friends, and some on drugs.

And now the headline

Homeless veteran who helped stranded woman says he can't get GoFundMe cash from couple

Bobbitt raised suspicions over how McClure, a receptionist, is now driving a new BMW. The couple said the car was paid from their own money.

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Money for homeless veterans used by employee?

Money Stolen From Veterans: Non-Profit Worker Sentenced
By California News Wire Services, News Partner
Aug 24, 2018

The money was supposed to help homeless veterans with short-term housing.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA —A former case worker at an East Bay nonprofit organization has been sentenced in U.S. District Court to one year in prison for stealing $26,300 in federal funds intended to aid homeless veterans with short-term housing.

William Andrews, 50, of Windsor, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco on Tuesday. Donato also ordered him to pay the government $26,300 in restitution.

Andrews pleaded guilty before Donato on April 25 to one count of theft of U.S. government property and acknowledged stealing a total of $26,300 in 2016.
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Vietnam veteran Dan Eccles body pulled from Rock River

Homeless veteran lived in the shadow of downtown
Gazette Extra
By Neil Johnson
Aug 19, 2018

“He was a Vietnam vet and one of the guys whose mind never came home from the war,” John Eccles said. “Two minutes in a firefight can change your life.”

Dan Eccles

A troubled man
Eccles, 68, was a Vietnam War veteran. While still a teenager, he served in the 27th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army, a group of fighters nicknamed the “Wolfhounds,” his family said. He fought in Cù Chi in South Vietnam in 1968, fending off surprise attacks from a vast network of enemy, underground tunnels dug by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong armies.

Dan Eccles’ body was pulled from the Rock River near the Centerway Dam, just downstream from a spot on the river bank where he was known to crawl into the weeds to sleep at night.

Eccles’ world, such as it was, spanned a quarter-mile, unpaved trail along the west side of the Rock River near downtown Janesville. The heavily wooded section of the Ice Age Trail runs north of Centerway, along the tangled railroad hillside just east of Mercyhealth Hospital and Trauma Center.

In that area across the river from Traxler Park where the Rock Aqua Jays perform, observers say they had seen Eccles and still see other homeless men in the woods and along the trails. Some are drunk and dirty. Others sleep on old couch cushions and mattresses in plain view. Some take to the bushes and stay under blue tarps or in tents.
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Feed homeless veterans for months or another parade?

We have a lot of parades for veterans all over the country. 

We also have veterans who are homeless and dumpster dive for food. 

We have military families on food stamps. 

How about we dump the Trump parade and actually do some good with the money?

*******

DONALD TRUMP’S MILITARY PARADE COULD FEED EVERY HOMELESS VETERAN FOR ALMOST 9 MONTHS, BASED ON REPORTED NEW COST
News Week
BY RAMSEY TOUCHBERRY
8/16/18

Based on a new estimate reported Thursday projecting President Donald Trump’s military parade will cost $92 million to $80 million more than originally projected, every homeless veteran in the country could be fed three meals per day for almost nine months.

The military showcase is set to take place through the streets of Washington, D.C., on November 10 and will include about eight tanks, helicopters, fighter jets, other armored vehicles and troops. 

The Department of Defense will provide $50 million and other agencies like the Department of Homeland Security will cover the remaining $42 million, a U.S. defense official with knowledge of the assessment told CNBC. The total price tag is $80 more than the original $12 million the Pentagon estimated it would cost last month.
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WWII veteran lived in RV until someone cared

Ed Smith, would-be loner and World War II veteran, dies at 92
Star Tribune
By Emma Nelson
AUGUST 11, 2018

Those who knew him describe a man whose life was colored by tragedy from the beginning, but punctuated until the end by moments of grace.

Smith was able to bring Puffy when he spent the night at St. Stephen’s. Later, with help from the organization and Novatney, he moved into an apartment. When Puffy died, Smith asked that the dog be cremated and the ashes tucked inside a stuffed animal that he could hold as he slept.

The RV stood in the same downtown Minneapolis parking lot, day in and day out, never moving.

Don Novatney could see it from the building where he worked and wondered if someone was living inside. He hoped not — it was deep winter and frigid cold.

Then, one Sunday, he read a newspaper story about a World War II veteran living in an unheated RV.

“I drove over there and knocked on his door and asked him if he was the person in that article,” Novatney recalled. “And he said yes.”

Shortly after, the man, Ed Smith, also caught the attention of the VA. He soon started receiving enough benefits to move out of the RV, and he lived the rest of his life in an apartment building for seniors in Minneapolis.

Smith died July 25 at age 92. Those who knew him describe a man whose life was colored by tragedy from the beginning, but punctuated until the end by moments of grace.

“He didn’t really have anybody most of his life,” Novatney said. “He just wanted somebody to know his story.”
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Florida veteran leaves woodland for friends

Howard Altman: Homeless veteran finally agrees to leave the woods behind
Tampa Bay Times
Howard Altman
August 9, 2018

"You know the answer to that," he said, laughing again. "Out in the woods I have the animals — the hawks, squirrels, rabbits and coyotes. Here, I just have my two friends sitting here."

Two people who work with the homeless, Hillsborough sheriff's Deputy Luke Hussey, left, and Thomas Brown, right, finally persuaded veteran Randy Strieby to trade his life in the woods for a hotel room and soon, for an apartment. [Courtesy of Thomas Brown]

Thomas "T-Man" Brown called me up Wednesday afternoon with news that came as a welcome surprise.

A former Army staff sergeant who works with Tampa Crossroads helping homeless veterans, Brown was exuberant.

"Randy the roofer is finally coming out of the woods!"

The last time I saw Randy Strieby, 67, was nearly two years ago. I was traveling with Brown on a mission to Ruskin to find this veteran, who had been living in the woods.

A small, wiry man wearing a dirty green shirt and sweat pants emerged from behind a clump of trees.
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Lloyd Theodore Maxwell, Canadian homeless veteran lonely death

Lloyd Maxwell died alone but not unnoticed
Ottawa Citizen
BRUCE DEACHMAN
August 9, 2018

Lloyd Maxwell’s noon-hour funeral service on Wednesday at Beechwood Cemetery took less than seven minutes, his flag-draped coffin lowered into the ground shortly after Father Jeffrey King sprinkled holy water and poured sand on the casket in the shape of a cross.

Funeral for Lloyd Maxwell, a homeless veteran who lived at the Salvation Army. WAYNE CUDDINGTON / POSTMEDIA

“May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace,” King said. “Amen.”

In the distance, under steel-grey skies, a bugle played The Last Post. It would be nice to think it was playing for Maxwell, who served from 1969 to ‘71 as a reservist with The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, but that was not the case. Those particular notes and their timing were a coincidence, marking someone else’s passing, in another section of the cemetery.

Lloyd Theodore Maxwell died of natural causes on July 22, homeless but for those he knew in his final handful of years in residence at the Salvation Army Booth Centre shelter in the ByWard Market. He was 65.
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New Jersey Neighborhood does not want PTSD veterans?

It looks like a neighborhood in New Jersey is not so neighborly when it comes to veterans with PTSD, or anyone else.

"The issue has been contentious from the outset when residents first heard about it last year in September. Residents said they are not against veterans, but they worry about those suffering from PTSD, saying the building is across the street from a preschool and blocks away from East Side High School. They questioned if the facility would be just for veterans, and wanted to know what happens to veterans if IFS is unable to find permanent housing for them in 60 to 90 days.

Just an FYI for this deplorable neighborhood. They could already have people living in their neighborhood with PTSD and they just did not know it.

Wonder how this makes them feel considering when Veterans have PTSD, like they do, they were hit by it while risking their lives for citizens, just like them?

Wonder how Police Officers and Firefighters feel about this considering when they get hit by PTSD, they were also hit by it serving their communities? You know, the same kind of community who said that homeless veterans with PTSD should not live there.

Wonder how this makes the over 7 million other people in this country with PTSD feel?

That's the real problem. Uneducated folks just guessing at something they do not understand at all. Then why would you just judge someone you know nothing about and then try to block them from living next to you? It happens everyday when someone rents and apartment or sells a house. You do not know who is moving in and have no right to stop them from doing it, but apparently, it is OK to do that to veterans!

VA Homeless Shelter Employees Charged With Stealing Money

2 VA Employees Charged With Stealing Gov. Money for Spending Spree
NBC 7 News San Diego
By Bridget Naso
Jul 11, 2018

"VASDHS leadership has been cooperating with the Office of Inspector General on this investigation since 2013. Now that the investigation is complete, we are pursuing appropriate personnel actions.

Two San Diego Veterans Administration employees have been charged in federal court for using government money to buy luxury items for themselves, others and to sell online.

The spending spree started in 2013, according to court documents. Some of the items included large screen televisions, home theater systems, computers and sporting goods.

Nicholas Pilchak, assistant U.S. attorney said, “The indictment alleges over $23,000 in specific property that Mr. Soleimani misappropriated.”

Shawn Soleimani worked as a Social Service Assistant at the VA's Aspire Center. The Aspire Center is run by the San Diego VA Medical Center. It is a shelter with services for homeless veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Veteran decided to become homeless veteran to tell their stories

Veteran commits to living in homeless veteran camp for 1 year
NBC News 9
By Jolina Okazaki, Multimedia Journalist
Wednesday, July 4th 2018

"The majority of the veteran suicides we get are Vietnam veterans and a lot of those guys are homeless," said Rodriguez. "The camp I'm going to, there's amputees, wheelchairs, they need help. The only way they can get more help is to tell that story and make sure people here in the country know that exists."

(KWES) -

Last year, we told you about a veteran who passed through the Permian Basin and walked to honor the 22 vets who take their lives every day. Now he's on another mission to be a voice for homeless vets.

Ernesto Rodriguez has always been an advocate to help veterans across the country, especially after dealing with PTSD. He still wants to continue his mission, but this time he's committing to one year with no A/C or roof above his head. 

"I walked across the country last year and I passed through Midland/Odessa area," said Rodriguez. "Anyone who has been in the service is going to pass by the Chris Kyle Memorial and pay their respects."

Rodriguez is heading to Tuscon, Arizona to a homeless camp that takes care of veterans. Rodriguez is joining his brothers and sisters to leave a life of air conditioning and a soft bed in order to live in a tent in the blazing heat.

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Homeless veteran killed by hit and run driver

Your Stories: Final honor for homeless former Marine
CBS 8 News
Video Report By Monique Griego
Jul 03, 2018

SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — News 8 has an update on a story we first brought you last week about a homeless former Marine killed in a hit-and-run accident. Deryck Bacon's widow reached out for help because she wanted her husband buried with honor.

And several San Diego groups answered the call.

When News 8 shared the story of Bacon - a 59-year-old homeless veteran who'd been killed - the circumstances surrounding his death struck a chord within the community.

"This one was a particularly tragic story," said Michael McConnell, a homeless advocate in the San Diego area.

"As it turns out, he's a veteran and [he was] just innocently sleeping on the sidewalk because he has no place to call home."
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Disabled veteran left homeless after being hacked

Gulf war veteran and family living in a U-Haul van after hacker stole disability benefits from online account
Dallas Morning News
David Tarrant, Enterprise writer
June 7, 2018

DENTON — Jeff Slaughter needs answers fast after his monthly disability check didn't show up in his bank account earlier this month. The disabled Persian Gulf War veteran said he was told by Department of Veterans Affairs officials late last month that his account was hacked.

Slaughter had been staying at a La Quinta Inn off Interstate 35 in Denton, waiting for new veteran housing to open in Houston. But after his account was hacked, his money ran out. Today, he's living out of a U-haul van in the hotel parking lot with his wife, son and two dogs. Hotel management lent him a fan, but it was still a rough night.

"We didn't get much sleep — hardly any," Slaughter said, standing outside the white van.

A VA spokeswoman said that its eBenefits program, which handles compensation for the nation's disabled veterans, has not been hacked. Instead, individual eBenefits accounts — which 4 million disabled veterans use to get benefit payments — have been fraudulently accessed. Jessica Jacobsen, a VA spokeswoman, said about 2,300 of 7.1 million eBenefits accounts have been compromised since August 2015.
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8 veterans get final salute at Fort Sam

Unclaimed by families, 8 veterans get final salute at Fort Sam
Express News
By Sig Christenson
June 1, 2018

“Eight brothers, from the wars of far-off Asia to the shores of Tripoli. These men from all the ages stood tall for all to see. Today, we call them brothers, for with honor they did serve.” Michael Decker, a decorated Navy veteran of Vietnam

The homecoming was years in the making, in some cases decades, but on Friday, eight veterans were welcomed to their final resting place, the roar of three dozen motorcycles trumpeting their arrival at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

The cremated remains were out of storage at last, escorted into town by state troopers, San Antonio police and Bexar County sheriff’s deputies after a ride of more than 500 miles across West Texas, to be interred with full military honors.

Veterans usually get such treatment days after their deaths surrounded by family, but not these men. They died with no one to claim them and were placed in the basement of the Potter County Courthouse in Amarillo.

Aviation Electronic Tech 2nd Class Petty Officer Coy Washington Black

Tech Sgt. Dana Dean Milton Jr.

Navy Aviation Recruit George Machoul Aswad II, 58.

Army Pfc. Andrew Benson Bramlett, 61.

Army Pvt. Robert Pete Brunner, 71.

Navy Seaman Everett Earl Criss, 71.

Army Pfc. Don Stewart, 83.

Marine Pfc. Floyd Ray White, 65.

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