Program aims to get veterans re-acclimate to regular life

Shelter from the storm
Program aims to get veterans re-acclimate to regular life

By Paige Winfield pwinfield@scn1.com
Four military veterans are fighting a war inside a 110-year-old Victorian-style home in downtown Wheaton.

It's a battle that confronts many servicemen and women after they return from combat and face psychological and emotional enemies, born from post-traumatic stress disorder and the difficulty of re-acclimating to civilian life.

The veterans, who are in their 40s and 50s, live in the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans - a transitional home that opened 18 months ago to help retired servicemen struggling with substance abuse and homelessness to get back on their feet.

To gain one of the five available slots in the home, each had to remain sober 45 days prior to entering and sign a commitment to the program. During their five to nine-month stay, they receive counseling, find and maintain jobs in the community, submit to random drug and alcohol testing and obey a strict eating and sleeping schedule.

One resident drives a school bus. Another resident, who is scheduled to graduate in August, works as a line chef at Arrowhead Country Club.



BY THE NUMBERS
Although accurate numbers are impossible to come by - no one keeps national records on homeless veterans - the Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that:


• Nearly 200,000 veterans are homeless on any given night.


• Nearly 400,000 experience homelessness over the course of a year.


• One out of three homeless men has put on a uniform and served the U.S.


• Veterans account for 23 percent of all homeless people in America.

Source: The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
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