Friday, September 15, 2000
Event helps homeless vets
StandDown finds services for those in need
By Rebecca Billman
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Six months ago, Anthony Mack was a homeless Vietnam veteran completely controlled by his alcoholism.
Mr. Mack, 48, had dropped out of his family — which included teen-age children — and was living on Cincinnati streets.
On March 16, a light bulb turned on in his troubled head and he made a decision to change his life. He entered the accelerated addiction treatment program for homeless vets at Joseph House in Over-the-Rhine.
He made such rapid progress that he was hired as a staff counselor.
Mr. Mack spoke about his conversion Thursday at the kickoff for StandDown, a two-day outreach effort in which volunteers try to connect Greater Cincinnati's estimated 4,000 homeless veterans with services, such as the Joseph House program, that could improve their lives.
StandDown, which is held here annually and in other cities nationwide, is organized by Greater Cincinnati social service agencies and nonprofit groups that serve the homeless.
More than 100 volunteers and 34 agencies work together to help vets apply for benefits they may qualify for but may not be aware of, and to receive medical care and counseling.
They also receive coupons entitling them to winter clothes.
Ninety-three percent of home less veterans have either alcohol or drug addiction, or mental problems, according to Fannie Johnson, board member of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.
Such addictions and mental problems can render them incapable of applying for assistance — such as Social Security and veterans benefits or counseling — that can turn their lives around.
Six hundred homeless vets were expected to show up for the clinic, which continues todayat two locations in Over-the-Rhine. About 10 percent of those 600 will be women, estimated Iola Green, director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Homeless Outreach.
“Our vets need StandDown programs to make it not just through the winter,” said Ms. Green, “but to make through the year.”
Many are regulars at the Drop Inn Center in Over-the-Rhine, a homeless shelter that also offers meals and referrals to social service agencies. It is one of the StandDown locations.
Most StandDown volunteers are social workers, but some are former homeless vets currently in treatment — like Scott Watson, 39, of Newport.
A Navy surgical assistant in Operation Desert Storm, Mr. Watson said he is receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder from a VA clinic. He said he plans to go to Northern Kentucky University to study physical therapy.
StandDown has been held in Cincinnati every year since 1993. It originated in San Diego in 1988 and today about 80 are held in major cities across the nation.
• To volunteer for next year, call Alicia Beck or Susan Knight at 421-7803. For help or information, call Denise Crew or Chris Engle at the Drop Inn Center at 721-0643.
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