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What The difference a home makes?
'I got a second shot. I’m not going to let it pass'
Veteran has a chance to change his life for good - what do you think RP members?
Veteran Housing should be on the agenda for the next POTUS as well!
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/the-difference-a-home-makes-1.326664
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A simple rule guided Travis Goodman during the years he sought shelter in vacant houses across Ohio’s capital city.
“Go in late, get out early.”
Slipping into an empty home after nightfall and vanishing before daybreak reduced the risk that a neighbor would spot him and call police. If he moved only in the dark, he could sleep unnoticed in the same house for days, sometimes weeks.
But now and then alcohol and pot loosened his discipline. The cops would show up and arrest the former Marine, charging him with trespassing or drug possession or both. He might stay in a homeless shelter for a stretch before resuming his particular style of house hunting.
Goodman worked a string of construction and warehouse jobs that earned him enough to afford a place of his own. He chose instead to invest in his vices, and when money ran short, he turned to petty theft and check forgery. There were more short stints in jail as lessons went unlearned.
He spun in that cycle for more than a decade until the day in 2011 when he received a call from his sister. She had seen a report on TV about a new housing community for disabled and homeless veterans. She urged him to apply for an apartment there.
The call coincided with his growing sense that he needed to change. The old military man felt hollowed out in body and mind.
“I got tired of being tired, and I got tired of being ashamed,” said Goodman, 54, who grew up in Columbus and joined the Marines in 1978 for a three-year stint. “Your conscience starts to get to you. You start seeing yourself as less than human.”
In summer 2012, he received approval to move into the Commons at Livingston, a red-brick, three-story housing complex of 50 one-bedroom units run by National Church Residences. The nonprofit housing provider, based in Columbus, expanded the campus last year, doubling its capacity to house 100 veterans.
'I got a second shot. I’m not going to let it pass'
Veteran has a chance to change his life for good - what do you think RP members?
Veteran Housing should be on the agenda for the next POTUS as well!
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/the-difference-a-home-makes-1.326664
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A simple rule guided Travis Goodman during the years he sought shelter in vacant houses across Ohio’s capital city.
“Go in late, get out early.”
Slipping into an empty home after nightfall and vanishing before daybreak reduced the risk that a neighbor would spot him and call police. If he moved only in the dark, he could sleep unnoticed in the same house for days, sometimes weeks.
But now and then alcohol and pot loosened his discipline. The cops would show up and arrest the former Marine, charging him with trespassing or drug possession or both. He might stay in a homeless shelter for a stretch before resuming his particular style of house hunting.
Goodman worked a string of construction and warehouse jobs that earned him enough to afford a place of his own. He chose instead to invest in his vices, and when money ran short, he turned to petty theft and check forgery. There were more short stints in jail as lessons went unlearned.
He spun in that cycle for more than a decade until the day in 2011 when he received a call from his sister. She had seen a report on TV about a new housing community for disabled and homeless veterans. She urged him to apply for an apartment there.
The call coincided with his growing sense that he needed to change. The old military man felt hollowed out in body and mind.
“I got tired of being tired, and I got tired of being ashamed,” said Goodman, 54, who grew up in Columbus and joined the Marines in 1978 for a three-year stint. “Your conscience starts to get to you. You start seeing yourself as less than human.”
In summer 2012, he received approval to move into the Commons at Livingston, a red-brick, three-story housing complex of 50 one-bedroom units run by National Church Residences. The nonprofit housing provider, based in Columbus, expanded the campus last year, doubling its capacity to house 100 veterans.
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Housing
Homeless
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 9
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I'm not going to focus on the negative, but look at the positive. He went through trying times and was beat up as a man and a Marine. But with support from family and a desire to TRY both the man and the Marine are good to go. You can't ask for more than that. Glad he got some help and a chance to start anew.
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Suspended Profile
The number of homeless in general in this country is an embarrassment. A large percentage of these are of course veterans. This is a scourge. No-one in the richest country in the world, the most powerful country in the world, should be homeless. Certainly no-one who has worn a uniform...
Sgt Spencer Sikder
And to think, our administration wants to bring 85,000 more people in. They will undoubtedly get federal benefits that they didn't earn and housing. I'm not opposed to lend a hand up, but not a hand out.
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With all of the houses that are sitting empty due to foreclosure, or just abandoned and the issues with run down communities, I am all for letting the veterans who need a hand move in, work the area, and make a better life for themselves. I am glad that this is being addressed. It is about time that the US was more concerned about saving our own than saving the world.
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