Helping veterans help themselves
By JOYCE McKENZIE
jmckenzie@tampatrib.com
Published: January 6, 2010
TEMPLE TERRACE - Connie Blaney is a staunch believer in liberty and justice for all.
In her former role as an administrator for the Hillsborough County Public Defender's Office, however, she witnessed the inequities of a government founded on those very principles.
She said she was saddened by how our society fails to provide for honorably discharged veterans, many of whom suffer the effects of post-traumatic stress syndrome, who find themselves penniless and living on the streets.
For that reason, Blaney has devoted the last four years of her time and money to providing shelter and helping to secure social and financial resources that enable homeless vets the opportunity to regain the self-esteem she believes they deserve.
In 2006 she founded Liberty Manor, a nonprofit organization that offers affordable, transitional housing for male veterans and is designed to help them support themselves.
Blaney and her husband, Bill, with the help of contributions from the community, have purchased and renovated four homes - Liberty I in Tampa, Liberty II on the border of Temple Terrace, Liberty III in Carrollwood and Liberty IV in Largo.
All facilities are filled to capacity, which means that at any given time 48 fewer veterans are on the streets. Some of the men serve as housing directors, and others strive to live on their own. Blaney estimates the organization has assisted close to 300.
"I've been very blessed," said Army veteran Bill Brown, 47, who was referred to Liberty II a couple of months ago. "I really felt comfortable from the first day I came here. It gave me more insight on other veterans, and I now know I'm not the only one who has problems. And Connie goes nonstop in her efforts to help us."
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Helping veterans help themselves
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Does Central Florida have a serial killer?
Are 19 slayings along I-4 the work of serial killers?
By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel
9:58 p.m. EST, January 11, 2010
The first body was found the night after Christmas in 2005.
LaQuetta Mae Gunther lay in a fetal position, partially naked, on the floor of a dark Daytona Beach alley — a bullet hole in the back of her head.
Since then, three more women with known criminal histories have been found slain execution-style in this Central Florida beachside city best known for its love of motorcycles, auto racing and sunbathing.
When the fourth victim was discovered, Daytona Beach police knew they were looking for a serial killer.
According to the FBI, the four killings are among 28 in Florida that are unsolved and connected to serial killings that the bureau suspects were committed by long-haul truckers.
read more here
Are 19 slayings along I-4 the work of serial killers
By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel
9:58 p.m. EST, January 11, 2010
The first body was found the night after Christmas in 2005.
LaQuetta Mae Gunther lay in a fetal position, partially naked, on the floor of a dark Daytona Beach alley — a bullet hole in the back of her head.
Since then, three more women with known criminal histories have been found slain execution-style in this Central Florida beachside city best known for its love of motorcycles, auto racing and sunbathing.
When the fourth victim was discovered, Daytona Beach police knew they were looking for a serial killer.
According to the FBI, the four killings are among 28 in Florida that are unsolved and connected to serial killings that the bureau suspects were committed by long-haul truckers.
read more here
Are 19 slayings along I-4 the work of serial killers
Homeless Vets get motel assistance from cold
Homeless Vets get motel assistance from cold
Updated: Sunday, 10 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST
Published : Sunday, 10 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST
By Derrol Nail
TITUSVILLE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A local homeless organization is extending the stay for 22 veterans at a local hotel to keep them safe from the freezing temperatures outside. The National Veterans Homeless Support organization is paying about $20 a night for each of the twelve rooms occupied by homeless veterans at the Super 8 in Titusville.
The N.H.V.S. president and founder, George Taylor found the men in the woods, on the street, and at homeless encampments across Brevard County. To go out and find them out in the woods and bring them in, was a task.
read more here
Homeless Vets get motel assistance from cold
Updated: Sunday, 10 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST
Published : Sunday, 10 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST
By Derrol Nail
TITUSVILLE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A local homeless organization is extending the stay for 22 veterans at a local hotel to keep them safe from the freezing temperatures outside. The National Veterans Homeless Support organization is paying about $20 a night for each of the twelve rooms occupied by homeless veterans at the Super 8 in Titusville.
The N.H.V.S. president and founder, George Taylor found the men in the woods, on the street, and at homeless encampments across Brevard County. To go out and find them out in the woods and bring them in, was a task.
read more here
Homeless Vets get motel assistance from cold
‘Real Warrior’ Describes Post-traumatic Stress
‘Real Warrior’ Describes Post-traumatic Stress
By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2010 – When Staff Sgt. Megan Krause returned home from a deployment in Iraq in 2006, she thought the scariest moments of her life were over.
At her homecoming, “I ran to my mother in that hangar; we both cried tears of joy,” said Krause, now an Army Reserve medic attached to a combat engineering unit in Pennsylvania. “I told her it was over and I was fine.
“Boy, was I wrong.”
Krause later found herself waging a terrifying war with post-traumatic stress disorder. She described the battle and her road to recovery here today during the Real Warriors Campaign session at the 2010 Suicide Prevention Conference sponsored by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
Krause said she hit rock bottom while a student at Penn State University about two years after her deployment.
“It was when I found myself face down in the mud pit, in the middle of a pigpen in State College, Pa., running from the insurgents that I thought were chasing me, that I realized I had not yet survived,” Krause said. “I might not have been having suicidal ideations, but I was well on my way to killing myself.”
read more here
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57454
By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2010 – When Staff Sgt. Megan Krause returned home from a deployment in Iraq in 2006, she thought the scariest moments of her life were over.
At her homecoming, “I ran to my mother in that hangar; we both cried tears of joy,” said Krause, now an Army Reserve medic attached to a combat engineering unit in Pennsylvania. “I told her it was over and I was fine.
“Boy, was I wrong.”
Krause later found herself waging a terrifying war with post-traumatic stress disorder. She described the battle and her road to recovery here today during the Real Warriors Campaign session at the 2010 Suicide Prevention Conference sponsored by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
Krause said she hit rock bottom while a student at Penn State University about two years after her deployment.
“It was when I found myself face down in the mud pit, in the middle of a pigpen in State College, Pa., running from the insurgents that I thought were chasing me, that I realized I had not yet survived,” Krause said. “I might not have been having suicidal ideations, but I was well on my way to killing myself.”
read more here
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57454
3 killed in shooting at Georgia workplace
3 killed in shooting at Georgia workplace
January 12, 2010 4:34 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Camouflage-clad suspect arrested after fleeing in a pickup truck, police say
Death toll is 3 in shooting at business in Kennesaw, Georgia, authorities say
Five people were shot in attack, Cobb County Fire Lt. Dan Dupree says
Kennesaw is about 25 miles north of Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Three people were killed and two others wounded Tuesday in a shooting at a Penske truck rental business in suburban Atlanta, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at 1:57 p.m. ET at the business in Kennesaw, Georgia, said Cobb County Fire Lt. Dan Dupree. A suspect is in custody, Dupree said, and there were a total of five victims.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/12/georgia.workplace.shooting/index.html
January 12, 2010 4:34 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Camouflage-clad suspect arrested after fleeing in a pickup truck, police say
Death toll is 3 in shooting at business in Kennesaw, Georgia, authorities say
Five people were shot in attack, Cobb County Fire Lt. Dan Dupree says
Kennesaw is about 25 miles north of Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Three people were killed and two others wounded Tuesday in a shooting at a Penske truck rental business in suburban Atlanta, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at 1:57 p.m. ET at the business in Kennesaw, Georgia, said Cobb County Fire Lt. Dan Dupree. A suspect is in custody, Dupree said, and there were a total of five victims.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/12/georgia.workplace.shooting/index.html
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