Mass. veterans get advice, assistance at shelter ‘Stand Down’

June 24, 2006

By Matt Kane SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE 

 

WORCESTER— John, a 49-year-old U.S. military veteran, remembers walking into the Massachusetts Veterans Inc. shelter in April as a homeless, unemployed recovering alcoholic. Today, 19 months sober and working at a local convenience store, he thanks the organization for helping him get back on his feet. 

 

“We need more places like the Massachusetts Veterans shelter,” he said. 

 

John, who asked that his last name not be used, is one of 206 Massachusetts veterans who attended yesterday’s Massachusetts Veterans Inc. Stand Down at the organization’s shelter and the National Guard Armory Museum on Grove Street. 

 

According to Alison A. Alaimo, director of development at Massachusetts Veterans Inc., the event was “like a resource fair for veterans” where struggling veterans, many of whom are homeless, received meals, personal care items, clothing and haircut vouchers, and learned about resources available to them. 

 

Veterans asked questions about available resources and signed up for services at tables set up by 38 nonprofit and state organizations. Veterans were able to learn about the Social Security Administration and the Legal Assistance Corp. of Central Massachusetts in the legal services area or speak with representatives from the Worcester Housing Authority and the United Veterans of America in the housing area. Other organizations also had tables in education/employment, benefits/counseling and medical areas. The event received funding from the U.S. Department of Labor. 

 

Bill J. Ryan, veteran services employer account representative of Workforce Central Career Center, who had a table in the education/employment area emphasized the collaborative nature of the Stand Down resource fair. 

 

“It’s a family of services …We’re all on the same page,” he said. 

 

Mr. Ryan described Workforce Central as a “one-stop shop,” an employment-in-training program that provides career assessment, training, and employment for all individuals, including struggling veterans. The career center, which receives a U.S. Department of Labor grant, offers résumé writing workshops, basic computer courses, interviewing classes as well as a wide range of other employment training workshops. 

 

Massachusetts Veterans Inc. is a private, nonprofit charitable organization that has been dedicated to the service of veterans and their families since 1992. The organization provides an emergency shelter, a supportive housing program, and employment training. According to the organization, the Hot Meals Program serves more than 85,000 hot meals a year. It also offers on- and off-site medical, mental health and legal services. 

 

“I firmly believe they’re (the staff) here because they care about veterans,” John said. He recalled that he was “treated with compassion and respect from day one.” 

 

According to Massachusetts Veterans Inc. there are about 7,500 homeless veterans in Massachusetts and more than 300,000 homeless veterans in the country. 

 

Vincent J. Perrone, president of Massachusetts Veterans Inc., said the organization helps struggling veterans “clean the slate” and empower themselves. Veterans who use the emergency shelter must work at the food bank or in some other part of the shelter. 

 

“We help you help yourself,” Mr. Perrone said. 

 

According to Mr. Perrone, veterans from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Afghani Freedom and non-combat veterans have used services at Massachusetts Veterans Inc. 

 

According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, “stand down” refers to periods of rest and recovery held in base camp areas for exhausted combat troops during wartime. Today, the term refers to grass-roots community-based intervention programs designed to help struggling veterans. The first Stand Down was held in San Diego during the summer of 1988.