One of the most common questions we hear is, “How is it that Veterans end up homeless?” 

For combat veterans especially, the battle traumas and moral conflicts can be debilitating. Returning home nothing is the same and the veteran likely sees daily life events as petty in comparison to military experience.  The onset of post traumatic stress can bring on alienation of family, suicidal tendencies, job loss, addictive behaviors. Feelings of shame, lack of direction, and feeling that only a fellow veteran can understand leads to further alienation. Studies show it can take 2-5 years to crash and the result oftentimes includes loss of housing. Other veterans have experienced dramatic life events, some of which pre-date their military service.  Once back home, the same spiral to homelessness can begin.

Executive Director Joe Sluszka reminds us of the importance of our mission, “they come to us homeless and they leave with earned benefits, needed healthcare, employment, affordable housing, connections to family, a peer support network, and a renewed sense of self-esteem."

Our mission is to create relationships that engender trust, insist on personal responsibility, and provide each veteran with the resources needed for a full integration back into the community.

We will continue our work until every veteran has truly come home and has a permanent affordable place to call home, adequate healthcare, education, a meaningful job, has re-connected to family, and is a proud citizen in his or her community. Then we can shut our doors and declare victory because veterans homelessness will be a thing of the past.