Ranks Of Homeless Veterans Growing

Ranks Of Homeless Veterans Growing

By Jennifer Grogan


Genavesse Spader depended on a paycheck from her job as an accounts payable analyst and child support from her ex-husband to care for her three children.

In June, her contract position with Fidelity Investments ended and, a week later, her ex-husband was laid off from work.

“We went from two incomes to no income,” said Spader, 31.

Born in New London and a Fitch High School graduate, she moved to New Hampshire in January to work for Fidelity.

She served in the Connecticut Army National Guard from 1995 to 2001, where she fixed communications systems in the aircraft at the 1109th Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot in Groton.

Without a job, she left her apartment in New Hampshire and moved back to Connecticut, to be near family. But there was not enough room at relatives' homes for her and her three children so she turned to the Covenant Shelter of New London.

“If the economy wasn't this way, I would've gotten a job in a short period of time and it would've stopped the progression of everything else that happened,” said Spader, who has lived in the shelter since late July with her three children, ages 10, 4 and 2.

As the economy has worsened this summer, local shelters and organizations that assist veterans have seen an increase in the number of veterans, like Spader, seeking their services.
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