Our members who proudly served the country.

Nathalie had me mopping the floor this morning so when the cleaning crew comes, they won’t think we are pigs.

I thought of my father, who would have turned 100 years old this year, not that he was a pig, but that he

was a stickler on mopping.

He joined the Navy shortly after Pearl Harbor and retired 20 years later as a Chief Petty Officer.

It was around 1963, the family was loaded in the station wagon for a long trip, to where I don’t

remember. We were on a two-lane highway in the middle of nowhere. It was raining so hard that the

two speed wipers were not keeping up. Ahead you could barely make out a person walking. There was

no shoulder so the man walking in the ditch was being flooded by each passing car. Suddenly my

dad stopped, and I remember my mother saying, “What are you doing?”. “Picking up this sailor”.

“You don’t know that man”. “Yes, I do he’s Navy. No swabby is going to walk as

long as I’m alive”.

The sailor smelled like a wet dog. His wool jumper was beyond wet, and his sea bag must have

weighed double it’s dry weight. I don’t remember how long he was with us, but I do remember that

smell and seeing my father hand the man money as we dropped him off at a café. During this time my

dad was working as a school janitor, so I’m sure that whatever the amount, it was most of the money he

had. When I tell this story, I ask people to remember and learn from people like my father.

This note from Food and Shelter:

Veterans continue to be our top priority.  We currently have 14 veterans in our shelter on Gray Street.  14 of 40 guests are veterans and are currently in a housing plan being connected to not only housing resources but medical care and VA benefits.  4 of our 12 single adults living at McKown Village are veterans.

Also, potentially interesting.  The average age of the women living in our shelter is 62.  18 women live in our shelter and 12 of them are over the age of 50.  Six use walkers or wheelchairs.  

There was a gentleman named John who came to stay with us last year.  John is one of the men you might see walking up and down Main street as he would visit Food and Shelter in the daytime and go to the library to read in the afternoons and evenings.  Though I did not see John with a shopping cart too often, he did have a large suitcase he pulled with him that helped protect his back from carrying everything he owned in a backpack.  

John suffered from severe anxiety and PTSD from his time in the service.  He served in Afghanistan alongside his army company.  This anxiety and PTSD often made him seem on edge when he was simply just anxious.  He was not dangerous but sometimes looked unkept.  This was simply part of being homeless. If you looked past his rough exterior and took the time to talk to John, you would find his mind was amazing.  He learned tactical things in the army that made him understand mechanics like a savant.  I really enjoyed listening to his stories.  

John and I started to communicate more regularly and we learned together he was eligible for many benefits he had yet to receive.  Using our partner we got him eligible for those benefits which included a HUD VASH voucher.  John was finally getting housed!!  Through our work we got him into a facility to help with his PTSD and anxiety.  He is so much better today.  He is like a different man.  

Stories like this are just as important for non-veterans.  Often what looks dangerous and unappealing (homelessness is dangerous and unappealing for the people experiencing it the most), are people who just need an opportunity.  They are people who grew up with abusive parents who never got a chance.  I often tell people none of the men and women I meet at Food and Shelter were dreaming of being homeless as a kid.  They were dreaming of being football players and doctors and army men.  Life and poverty and abuse got in the way of those dreams.