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LOUISIANA HOMELESS VETERANS VENT TO VA SECRETARY

NICHOLSON -- "You need more. This is a start but you

said you had the resources. Let's put them to work."

 

 

Is it my imagination, or does the Secretary look just a wee bit uncomfortable in the above photo?

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Story here... http://www.2theadvocate
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Story below:

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Veterans vent to VA leader

Homelessness, few resources are big issues

By SAMUEL IRWIN
Special to The Advocate

U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson heard praise, complaints and suggestions Saturday from homeless military veterans while touring the Baton Rouge Volunteers of America nine-bed transitional housing facility on West Garfield Avenue.

Nicholson visited with the veterans in the parlor of the old Odd Fellows Lodge a few blocks away from Magnolia Mound Plantation and the LSU campus.

“We (the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) are the agents of a grateful society grateful for people who put on the uniform,” Nicholson said. “But we have challenges to take care of the many living veterans who are no different from the rest of the citizens of our country. We have veterans who have problems.”

Nicholson said the nation’s current population of military veterans is 25 million, but estimated there were 250,000 homeless veterans at the beginning of President George W. Bush’s administration.

“We think we’ve knocked that down to 195,000,” Nicholson said. “But if we have one homeless veteran, it’s too many.”

Nearly $2 billion has been budgeted for homeless veterans’ health care, but $1 billion is earmarked for faith-based programs, such as that operated by the Volunteers of America, to provide per-diem assistance to veterans suffering from addiction and mental disease, Nicholson said.

Lloyd Thomas of Harvey, a current resident of the Garfield Avenue VOA home, told Nicholson that he “lost sight of the American dream” after his discharge from active duty.

“Combat has a serious effect on a man,” Thomas said. “My belief and value system fell apart when I got back from special terrorist tracking teams (in Germany).

“I couldn’t keep jobs for two or three months at a time and wandered across the country for the last 25 years,” Thomas said. “Post traumatic stress disorder is real, but I was not immediately aware that I was to be debriefed or funneled through the medical system when I got back.

“There are some guys that fall through the cracks so if you could close cracks a little bit more it would be preventive maintenance,” Thomas told the secretary.

Nicholson responded by saying the Veterans Affairs Department is currently screening every soldier returning from Iraq and Afghanistan for signs of mental disorder and PTSD.

Another resident of the VOA transitional home, Eric Robertson of Baton Rouge, told Nicholson the homeless veterans situation in Baton Rouge is dire.

“I can name at least 100 veterans in this area that are homeless,” Robertson said. “You need more. This is a start but you said you had the resources. Let’s put them to work.”

Nicholson said the department is cognizant of the need in Baton Rouge, especially after the post-Hurricane Katrina population increase.

“We’re aware of the influx of homeless veterans here and (are aware of the need for) making more resources available for medical and grant per-diem programs,” Nicholson said. “And we’re constantly looking for good, faith-based sponsors here like the VOA.”

Shirley Johnson, the West Garfield Avenue facility case manager, said seven of the nine residents of the home were able to meet Secretary Nicholson. One of the absent residents was at work and the other visiting relatives.

“For the last four and half years, they’ve been saying they want to talk to the VA people in Washington, D.C., because we don’t have what they need,” Johnson said. “When one of Secretary Nicholson’s staff members called on Wednesday and asked if he could visit, I said, ‘Oh, yes.’”

Nicholson was in New Orleans on Friday to announce selection of the architectural firms chosen to design the new Southeast Louisiana Veterans Administration hospital.

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Larry Scott  --