Canton Seniors Give Back to Homeless Detroit Veterans

On any given night, it is estimated that 300,000 people are sleeping on the streets or in homeless shelters across the country, and there are currently many homeless veterans in the Detroit area looking to end this cycle through job training, emotional support and assistance with their daily needs. One of the organizations working to meet the needs of homeless veterans in Detroit is the Michigan Veterans Foundation (MVF). It is a nonprofit that serves these men and women through temporary housing, life skills training, counseling, health care services, meals and clothing, substance abuse intervention and many other areas. The senior residents at Waltonwood at Cherry Hill in Canton are made up of a diverse crowd of veterans and veteran supporters, like siblings and spouses of those who served. The residents believe in helping local veterans, and they are taking time to do that by hosting a drive to collect supplies for these men and women served by MVF. The supplies will be used to make care packages in December.

The senior living community is collecting the following supplies on behalf of the MVF through the end of November, and they’re asking the public to donate: hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, packaged razors, shaving cream, VISA gift cards or cards to stores like Meijer, Kroger and Walmart, socks, screen-printed t-shirts of all sizes and personal cards and letters. These supplies can be dropped off at 42600 Cherry Hill Road in Canton in the marked bins at either the independent or assisted living entrance. On Thursday, December 3rd, at 11:00 a.m., the residents will come together to pack the individual care packages which will be dropped off at MVF in Detroit on Thursday, December 10th.

“Our main project to help homeless veterans is the Detroit Veterans Center–a community effort that allows us to provide transitional housing and resources like skill training, needed for about 110 homeless veterans to break the cycle and return to independent living,” said Tyrone Chatman, executive director of the Michigan Veterans Foundation. “Care packages and supply donations from organizations like Waltonwood at Cherry Hill help us to provide a more normal, structured life and aid the veterans in getting back on their feet. We know that there are many veteran residents at Waltonwood at Cherry Hill who are donating supplies and time to help their fellow veterans, which is really special to us, and I know it will mean a lot to the local veterans who receive the packages.”

Helping veterans groups is very close to the hearts of the many residents at the senior living community because many of them understand personally the trials of returning from war and trying to acclimate to a new life after witnessing terrible, indescribable events, which can be a lot for a person to handle. They look forward to benefiting an organization that is committed to caring for all veterans’ needs–mental, physical and emotional–so they can live their best lives.

“Veterans served their country, the country they love, and the least we can do for them, especially those who are less fortunate, is give back to them and love them,” said Ken Palmer, World War II Navy veteran and Waltonwood at Cherry Hill resident. “They gave so much to uphold the standards of America, and we should show our gratitude and appreciation.”

“We work on service projects all year round for various groups, but this is a very personal activity for dozens of our residents who are veterans themselves or spouses of veterans,” said Liala Sobh, independent living life enrichment director at Waltonwood at Cherry Hill. “They remember what it was like to return home after war and try to pick up your life where you left off, having gone through such a life-changing experience. We want to help Michigan veterans who are working to better themselves by helping the MVF expand their reach. We hope our care packages allow them to help even more veterans in need.”

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