chaptersinaction In Tough Times
MOAA chapter members undertake many projects to help homeless veterans, from supporting Stand Downs to establishing an endowment fund to assist homeless veterans.
Y
ou don’t have to look very hard to find someone who is homeless. You can see them camped out under bridges and highway overpasses or sleeping in doorways and cars. Unfortunately, many of the home-
less are veterans. And the number of homeless veterans likely will rise in the coming years as more veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghani- stan return home. Community-based nonprofit
organizations provide programs that are highly effective at help- ing homeless and at-risk veterans. That’s where MOAA’s chapters can help — by supporting many of these community-based programs, in- cluding Stand Downs. The term Stand Down originated during the Vietnam War. At secure base camps, combat troops could take care of personal hygiene, get clean uniforms, enjoy warm meals, get med- ical and dental care, send and receive mail, and enjoy the camaraderie of friends in a safe environment.
On the road: This month, Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret., director of MOAA’s Council and Chapter Affairs Department, will visit chapter mem- bers in Arizona, Florida, and Virginia. Go to MOAA Calendar, page 84, for the dates.
Today’s Stand Downs provide simi- lar services, not to deployed service- members but rather to veterans who are homeless. When Heart of America (Mo.)
Chapter member Lt. Cmdr. Alan Davis, USN-Ret., volunteered at the Women Veterans Stand Down and Mini-Retreat Outreach Event in Kansas City, Mo., he saw some of the unique challenges homeless female veterans face. Davis and his wife, Mary Ellen, were surprised by how many at-risk and homeless female veterans came to the Stand Down with their young children. He also learned many women aren’t asked whether they’re veterans when applying for jobs — and therefore aren’t receiving the veterans’ hiring preference offered by the federal government and other employers, which just might have helped them get hired. In Florida, which has a high con-
centration of veterans, members of the Tampa Chapter’s Military Of- ficers Wives Club are supporting female veterans through the VA’s Homeless Women Veterans Pro- gram. And in Oregon, members of the Military Officers Club of Corval- lis started a special community en- dowment fund, which will provide funding in perpetuity to help home- less veterans in their community.
48 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2012
For more information about these efforts, read this department’s main story, “Veterans Help Each Other.” If you haven’t gone to a chapter
meeting, go take a look. You might be surprised at the important work mem- bers are doing in your community. — Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret. Director, Council and Chapter Affairs
Veterans Help
Each Other MOAA chapters aim to help homeless veterans.
O
n a single night in Janu- ary 2009, about 75,000 mil- itary veterans were homeless.
This statistic is found in the January 2011 Veteran Homelessness: A Supple- mental Report to the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, com- piled by the VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This has inspired many MOAA
chapters, like the Heart of America (Mo.) Chapter, to support Stand Downs. At these events, homeless veterans receive food, shelter, cloth- ing, health screenings, benefits coun- seling, and referrals to other services such as housing, employment, and substance-abuse treatment.
PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
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