Encouraging hope during annual homeless service

When Michael Keslosky, homeless veterans advocate, first met Zarnoch about five weeks ago, the former combat vet was living with Vietnam and Korean veterans underneath the Market Street Bridge. Zarnoch now resides in Kingston House.

Encouraging hope during annual homeless service
Event gave voice to those who can’t speak for themselves, says charity official.
By SHERRY LONG slong@timesleader.com

Homelessness doesn’t just affect large cities like New York City and Los Angeles. It’s also a growing problem in Luzerne County, Volunteers of America officials said.

Believing it’s important to bring awareness to the issue to help end homelessness, the Luzerne County Homeless Coalition held its second annual Homeless Memorial Service Friday afternoon at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church to coincide with other homeless memorials being held across the country.

“The purpose of the event was to be a voice for those who may not be able to speak for themselves,” said Bill Jones, Volunteers of America’s vice president and chief operating officer.

Organizers wanted to bring attention to the blight of homeless people, including Iraq War veteran Robert Zarnoch.



Keslosky said his heart goes out to the veterans because he was once in their shoes – a homeless veteran struggling to survive day to day.

“People in the community don’t realize every one of us is one paycheck away from being homeless,” Keslosky said.

Keslosky said he’s outraged that any men and women who risked their lives serving for our country are homeless.

“There should be no homeless veteran. We are the richest and most powerful nation in the world. We need to take better care of our veterans who served this country with honor and distinction before the number of homeless veterans increases with the ending of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as they did when the Vietnam veterans returned home,” he said.
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My heart is tugged by homeless veterans above all because they were willing to lay down their lives for this country. I believe that this nation should take care of all the homeless people but if we do not take care of the veterans, it is very unlikely we will take care of the regular citizens who become homeless. We don't take care of their mental anguish or help them to overcome feeling as if the world has forgotten them.

I've posted it many times in the past, that my husband was almost one of them because of PTSD. What I do not talk about is that we almost lost our house as well. Forbearance agreements with the mortgage company and borrowed money from my Mother helped see us through. It gave me a new perspective of homeless veterans and their families, just as being married to a PTSD veteran helped me understand everything that went with that aspect. They are not lazy people, but they are unable people. They are not crazy people, but they are wounded people. To know there is so much suffering among them as well as their families captures you. You cannot forget about it or them. You find yourself running out of reasons to retain your own indifference toward them. Little by little all the excuses you come up with to not care about them evaporates. Soon you understand that no one in their right mind wants to be homeless, living on the streets, fighting for a place to sleep or pushing a shopping cart filed with what is left of everything they own. Once you understand this, they matter to you.