Montrose VA Walk and Roll for Homeless Vets

Hundreds of employees at the dedicated their lunch breaks to a problem they work to alleviate every day – veteran homelessness.

“On any given day there 800 homeless veterans in the Hudson Valley,” said Paul Stolz, Health Care for Homeless Veterans Program Coordinator.

“There is a big push to get veterans here,” Stolz said. “The young think they can do it on their own but we can offer them more resources.”

According to Stolz the majority of the veteran population they serve are post-Vietnam war service men and women. About six percent of the homeless veterans he serves fought in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the number is growing. The number of women and children in need of VA services is also increasing.

“The younger men and women a lot of times move back in with their parents, or a girlfriend or boyfriend. Then that doesn’t work out, and they move in with friends. Then that doesn’t work out and they are couch hopping,” Stolz said.

Stolz explained that they want to help veterans before they have nowhere else to turn. While the VA offers a wide range of services to veterans facing all types of challenges, Stolz and his staff work to find, assess and help specifically homeless veterans in any way they can.

“Every veteran we encounter, we can offer them something,” Stolz said. “It is a collaborative effort with the community,” he said, adding that the VA could not ask more of Peekskill’s Jan Peek House or Peekskill city officials, naming Mayor Mary Foster and Deputy Mayor Don Bennett. Stolz also cited numerous programs including a four-month domiciliary on-campus housing program and other supportive housing programs. 

The United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki made ending veteran homelessness a top priority in 2009 with a five-year plan aimed to reach that goal. That plan brought additional resources, funding and staff to the Hudson Valley VA to strengthen their programs.

“In the last year we have had our best success,” Hudson Valley VA Director Gerald Culliton said. “It was the VA Secretary’s initiative to focus more on homeless, but that is not new to us. But, (that initiative helped us to) increase staff, effort and receive additional funding,” Culliton said. The extra emphasis helped them to reach out to more than 400 veterans in the last year and place 200 in housing, Culliton said.

The Homeless Veterans program involves a heavy outreach component in which Stolz and his staff visit area ministries, homeless shelters, and housing resource centers to find veterans who need help and provide them with resources and services. They travel to these spots about four times each week to meet with people in need. Stolz explained that they strive to be flexible and proactive – always seeking out those in need and bending to assist those who reach out to them.

But VA staff and Veterans explained that many veterans in need of services do not turn to the government for help.

One of the Walk/Roll event volunteers, 64-year-old Sheldon Rector,  E4, U.S. Air Force, a Vietnam veteran, knows what it is like to go without help.

“I did not have much faith in the system,” Rector said. 

Rector suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following his return home from Vietnam War in 1970. He had several phobias, including a phobia of travel, and anxiety issues.

“I came to Mother Montrose and this is a whole new life.” Rector said. He now fearlessly travels to Montrose every day by car or train from Harlem.

Although Rector was never homeless, he said he did not seek or receive the help he needed until decades after he returned home to New York. For the last 11 years he has gone through VA programs and since 2008 he has been volunteering to give back to the place that has helped him through the years.

“I never thought this would be such a blessing,” Rector said. “This experience, the peacefulness and the help. It is a wonderful thing.”

The VA Hudson Valley Health Care System staff wants to help veterans in need. They ask that any veteran seeking eligibility information about VA Care please call 914-737-4400, ext. 2306 or 845-831-2000, ext. 5100 for more information.

In addition to homelessness services, the VA offers Veterans primary and specialty care, women’s health, long term care, mental health/residential care to include PTSD, substance abuse and  treatment for homeless veterans.  VA Hudson Valley services are available at the two main campuses in Montrose and Castle Point and the six Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) in Carmel, Goshen, Monticello, New City, Pine Plains, Port Jervis and Poughkeepsie.

Visit their website for more information.