VFW Post 600 working to help a homeless vet
By Commander Jim Brooks
On Dec. 6, 2016, at approximately 1700, I received a phone call at VFW Post 600 from a distraught woman asking if we could help her husband who was homeless in Killeen, Texas. The wife had moved to Oneida to set up their new residence a few months prior while her husband would follow with their furniture from Texas when the residence was established.
Her husband served in the Army, with two tours of combat action in Iraq. He was discharged and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and received a disability rating of 50 percent from the Veterans Administration.
While awaiting the move to New York, his disability overcame him, and he ended up homeless in Killeen.
We at VFW Post 600 had our monthly meeting that same night and voted to help this family if everything could be verified. The following day, with the help of Madison County Veterans Service Officer Don Smith, his combat action was verified, as well as his PTSD VA rating.
We received pictures of this veteran on the streets of Killeen in a tank top, shorts and socks only, looking dirty. The Killeen police and a Texas organization called No One Left Behind had tried helping him with no success. The wife asked if we could fly her to Killeen with the idea that he would come with her back to New York.
We at VFW Post 600 bought her a one-way ticket to fly to Texas at a cost of $486. We also gave her $1,500 in cash to cover the moving expenses to get back to New York. Upon her arrival in Killeen, her husband had gone to an emergency room for blisters on his feet and was subsequently sent to the VA hospital in Waco for a mental health evaluation.
The wife rented a U-Haul truck and, with help from friends, loaded her furniture from storage and drove to Waco to await the release of her husband. He was released three days later; during her wait, she slept in the rental truck at a local truck stop. They arrived back in Oneida and were staying with her sister until the apartment they were going to rent became available.
While waiting, he became more unstable, the police were called, and he ended up in a facility in Syracuse for mental health evaluation. He was in that facility for a week and released, put in a cab and sent to the sister’s home in Oneida.
I received a frantic call from his wife stating that he had been released and that her sister would not allow him back in the home, thus putting him back on the streets of Oneida, homeless again.
He was released Dec. 28, 2016. I was informed that their apartment would be available to move in Dec. 30, 2016. Myself and quartermaster Harry Hood talked it over and decided that we would get them a hotel room in Oneida until the apartment was available three days later at a cost of $238.
On Friday, Dec. 30, I personally gave the couple a ride to the VAMC mental health facility in Syracuse for his first local appointment. After the appointment, he and his wife were taken back to Oneida to move into their apartment.
As of this date, Jan. 2, 2017, we have not heard from them, and hopefully all is well.