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One third homeless veterans { August 31 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1600339,00.htmlhttp://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1600339,00.html
Article Published: Sunday, August 31, 2003
Homeless vets get help in Springs
Annual event offers clothes, housing info
By Erin Emery, Denver Post Southern Colorado Bureau
COLORADO SPRINGS - The word spread fast on the street:
Homeless veterans could go to the City Auditorium downtown and get set up for winter - free shoes, free coats, free pants.
On Friday, about 125 homeless veterans - 25 percent of the number living in the Colorado Springs area - took advantage of the fifth annual Homeless Veterans Standdown, sponsored by the El Paso County Homeless Veterans Association.
Homeless vets could register for Veterans Affairs benefits, take a shower, get a free haircut and shave and learn about housing and employment opportunities.
"We do it because the homeless veterans need it. These fellows, for whatever reason, they're down and out," said Harry Johnson, president of the coalition.
In military lingo, a stand-down happens when front-line troops are taken off the line and sent to the rear for new clothes, new issues, and rest and relaxation.
Donald Conners, 52, who served in the Army from 1969 to 1973, including two years in Vietnam, came to take advantage of the opportunity.
But when a volunteer typed in his Social Security number to verify that he was a vet, the computer said he had been stood down - permanently.
"It said I'm dead," Conners said.
Dead? How did that happen?
"Don't know," he said. "Social Security says they got the information from the VA."
A VA representative assured Conners that she would fix the mistake, and that was good enough for Conners. He said he will not need the benefits until he's years older anyway.
Until then, he said, he will keep living as he has since 1973: outside.
"Wherever I can find a creek or a river. I've got to have my wildlife. I wake up in the morning, watch a deer come through camp, I'm a happy man," Conners said. "I choose this, I don't have to."
He said he works odd jobs, frequently visits the library and travels by bicycle. He recently completed a 2 1/2-week bicycle ride from Cody, Wyo., to Pueblo.
Like last year, he came to the stand-down for winter clothes.
"I got my winter gear here last year, and it sure makes winter out there on that creek bank a little bit easier. Cold winter gear, decent shoes for my feet, sleeping bags - that's mostly what I look for," he said.
He said he is fortunate to be healthy in mind, body and spirit. Others are not so blessed.
"I'm kind of unusual, I choose to live this way. A lot of these folks out here don't have the capability. You've got drunks, winos, and they ain't got the power to say no," Conners said. "This helps them."
Jack Freeman, homeless program coordinator for Veterans Affairs in Colorado Springs, said one-third of the homeless people in the United States are veterans.
The reason: Many of them have seen things that jolt the human psyche. After Vietnam, he said, veterans were in the jungle one day and Arkansas the next. And a lot of people didn't want to listen to the ache in their hearts.
The military, he said, is doing a better job assessing personnel who have returned from Afghanistan or Iraq.
"There's going to be guys coming out of Iraq that will have seen things and heard things and smelled things, and they'll want to talk about it when they come home. They are gruesome things that no one wants to hear about. And they'll learn pretty quickly to stuff it inside because nobody wants to hear it," Freeman said. "The sooner you can address post-traumatic stress disorder, the better."
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