Famous Veteran uses veterans

John McCain is a famous veteran but that's just about it. His lack of supporting veterans has been out of the dialog simply because people love to assume one veteran would take care of other veterans. People who bother to look up his record are shocked at how little he proves he cares. He votes against them when he has the chance to prove how he feels. Up until now, it was not a matter veterans from across the nation paid attention to because he was just another Senator showing up to get their votes in Arizona. Now he wants their votes across the nation and they do pay attention to what he has done against them. We should have expected a lot more out of him.

Election '08: McCain's Neglected Veterans
by
October 21, 2008 6:37 PM
BY AMY SILVERMAN

His fame is based on his POW status, but Senator John McCain’s made a point of voting against fellow veterans.


IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE to be a veteran in John McCain's home state, stop by the Justa Center in downtown Phoenix.

On a Thursday morning not long ago, a volunteer named Twyla stands in front of a group of clients at Justa, a day program for homeless seniors, explaining what she's brought from the food bank.

"I hope that those of you who don't have many teeth, that you'll be okay with the salad," she says, adding that she's also brought blueberry pomegranate juice. "And cake for dessert!"

Scott Ritchey rolls his eyes good-naturedly as he passes through the room, where the fluorescent light doesn't do any favors for the dirty linoleum and the worn-out, mismatched couches. For the past three years, this decrepit little building near the Arizona Capitol has been a godsend for about 100 homeless seniors who have nothing to do with their days, after waking up at the nearby shelter.

On any given day, about half the participants are veterans.

There's a special unit reserved for veterans at the shelter, but the waiting list is long, so many vets sleep in a parking lot euphemistically called "the overflow." Justa gives them a mailing address, a place to shower, access to the Internet and phone, lockers to store their belongings.

When Ritchey, a Methodist minister, started the program — which operates on about $260,000 a year, all private donations — one of the first things he did was call the local office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to get some help for the vets.

It took a year for anyone to show up. And in three years, Ritchey says, the VA has yet to place a single Justa Center vet in housing. There are programs in town that offer housing for veterans, but they've got to prove they're employed.

"You're 82 years old. You don't need to work," Ritchey says.

Almost all his clients have diabetes; many have dementia. Add untreated depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and you have a bad situation, particularly when you have to battle the VA's bureaucracy. Ritchey regularly finds vets napping on the floor by the Coke machine; the sleeping area is too dark and claustrophobic, they tell him.

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