‘They protected all of us.’ Modesto Stand Down aids homeless and other needy veterans
The goods and services offered at the fourth annual Homeless Veterans Stand Down in Modesto’s Graceada Park on Thursday weren’t “handouts,” one of the organizers noted.
The men, and the occasional woman, who turned out for food, clothing, showers, haircuts and more have earned what was provided, said Joe Sicilian, vice commandant of the Marine Corps League. “They put their time in, they served, they protected all of us, and now they need something that will help them move forward,” he said. “... They’re not getting a freebie, they’re getting a hand up, to make themselves sustainable.”
The event, presented by the Stanislaus Veterans Employment Committee, included dozens of staffed tables with representatives from veterans groups, health providers, nonprofit organizations and the government.
The help clearly is there, Sicilian said. The biggest challenge is gaining the confidence of homeless or otherwise struggling vets so they open up about their needs and wants. When that’s accomplished, providers then can work to find the right fit for veterans.
It can be daunting for vets to find shelter, for example, the Marine Corps veteran said. “Many programs have rules and regulations and criteria to participate, and some don’t know how to navigate that.” A vet might be turned away from a place or two and give up on the whole process, Sicilian said. His and other groups try to team the person in need with a veteran who will stick by him to get his needs met.
At the prior Stand Downs and in his other work helping veterans, Sicilian said he sees many of the same faces again and again. These “chronically homeless” as he calls them — people who’ve been in their situation three years or longer — “basically accepted this is their lot in life and they fall into that morass where they’re depressed and have greater and greater and greater mental health problems. They’re surviving but not moving forward.”
There are success stories, though. The Marine Corps League worked steadily for nearly two years to help one vet who’d been homeless seven years. Today, Sicilian said, the man is employed by the Army Corps of Engineers in Alexandria, Virginia, and has his own apartment. The veteran got to where he is because he had a great attitude and was very tenacious, Sicilian said.
Disabled and formerly homeless veteran Frank Bernal seems to share such an attitude. He said he’s “on top of the world now” because through Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing he has a little apartment on Ninth Street he shares with his two dogs.
At Thursday’s Stand Down, he was picking out clothing while holding his dog Harley with one hand. “When I was homeless, a big necessity is socks, cosmetics, hygiene stuff, sleeping bags, stuff like that,” he said. “But you can find it all here, you just have to look around.”
Army vet Fernando Rodriguez still is working his way out of homelessness. For about five months, he’s been in a Salvation Army program that provides shelter and workforce readiness. He’s currently looking for part-time work, he said.
Rodriguez said he became homeless in 2011 after the death of his mother, whom he’d taken care of for decades. Before entering the Salvation Army program, he typically would sleep outside or at the homes of friends.
At the Stand Down, veterans can find medical and dental help, clothing, food — “they help you out with everything,” Rodriguez said. “They do 100 percent for everybody here. ... “We need it, we struggle.”
