Lordy, I tell ya, I am busier than a one-armed paper hanger, as my friends here in the South like to say. OSD has been absolutely flooded with folks and the need for housing and employment has grown to encompass veterans who've never before had to ask for anything from anyone.
I've seen folks who've been employed and self sufficient all their lives come in and tell me that they've been laid off or otherwise lost their jobs due to the economic downturn and are behind in everything.
I can't tell you how serious this is, folks; these men and women are so far from the "traditional homeless" stereotype that if you saw even half of these folks the way I do, you'd never think of homelessness the same again.
Thankfully, OSD has received a couple of key grants and is just about ready to move into the new building across the street from where we are located today.
This new building will also contain new services that I think are going to be key in assisting the kinds of vets we are seeing today; individuals with families who are in economic crises.
Of course we will remain aligned with the original mission of Stand Down; assisting homeless, honorably discharged vets in regaining control of their lives and their destinies, but our scope will expand to include people we've not traditionally seen on the streets before.
The move is slated for the end of July, codes inspection willing.
While those of us who remain at the Service Center over on Edge Hill are able to continue working in relative comfort, the bigger part of our organization - the actual service delivery section - has been temporarily housed at the gym over at the Tennessee National Guard. So you know, the gym - she have no air conditioning.
The move is slated for the end of July, codes inspection willing.
While those of us who remain at the Service Center over on Edge Hill are able to continue working in relative comfort, the bigger part of our organization - the actual service delivery section - has been temporarily housed at the gym over at the Tennessee National Guard. So you know, the gym - she have no air conditioning.
That's right, more than half of Operation Stand Down's staff have been working this summer in a gym where the daily temperature often tops out around 95.
You want to talk about dedicated employees who are committed to serving veterans, let me tell you, I don't know of anyone who would work daily in those conditions besides the typical street outreachers, who like myself, are used to wandering around in all types of weather and environmental conditions looking for folks who need their help.
Knowing what these guys and girls are enduring as they labor daily to serve veterans has elevated them to a new level in my eyes; I have tremendous respect for each and every one of them and I'm telling you, it is an absolute honor to work with and for them all.
I can guarantee you tho, that when the doors to the new building open, they'll be first in line to get themselves set up in their new digs!
In Other News....
I participated in the first of a two-part HRC/SAMHSA webcast yesterday that, according to the fine folks at HRC, was a "resounding success." 300+ people tuned in for the event and almost every one of them stayed for the entire one and a half hour discussion. The webinar was recorded for posterity and should be available on the HRC website soon - I just checked and it's not up there yet, but you know guvmint folks - give em a while as they've got lots of coffee to drink and rumors to spread before they get down to the actual tasks at hand (and to all my good friends and colleagues who toil endlessly behind the scenes to ensure we actually get a few crumbs thrown our way by our magnanimous government officials, let me say thank you and you know I wasn't referring personally to YOU personally in this statement! :-) )
Laura Prescott, Gloria Dickerson and I put in a lot of work on the back end, as these things usually demand, and I'm saddened to say that just prior to the event Gloria had a personal issue and could not participate. However, because I usually tape the planning calls so I can refer back to them (previous cannabis use for 25 years has done a number on my memory, no doubt about it) we were able to use her input throughout the event and I want to personally thank her for her enormous contribution to the effort; she was definitely there in spirit and I'm hoping she'll be able to participate in the 2nd part on July 23rd.
I've been horribly lax in my postings over at Change.org and for that matter, in our own street paper The Contributor, but I'm hoping to correct that in the next couple of weeks by submitting a couple of important articles addressing the process of burying those who pass away while alone on the street.
Stay tuned - a lot is happening in the world of homelessness this summer and some serious money should be coming into play for many folks who administer services and resources to our brothers and sisters on the streets......
