Seeking help is not easy; more welcome mats are needed

A good friend once said: “Humility is directly proportional to gratitude.” Having the opportunity to work and live with homeless veterans at the Institute for Human Services’ VET (Veterans Engaged in Transition) House reinforces this idea every day.

I have now worked as the coordinator for this program for three years. In this role I am responsible for receiving referrals for homeless veterans, placing them in our programs (including Shelter Vet Bunks and the VET house), and supporting each one in their search for stable and permanent housing.

Out of my own experience of homelessness and addiction, what I know to be true is that the veterans I work with every day are actually living my own story. Any homeless provider will tell you that the concept of relapse applies not only to substance abuse and addiction, but also mirrors the patterns that lead many people to “relapse” back to being homeless.

“The power of positive thinking” is a difficult thing to harness considering the stigma and shame associated with needing to reach out for help. Military service members are trained to be independent and resourceful — so reaching out for help does not come easy. It could be said that veterans would be more effectively served with more welcome mats, rather than gatekeepers in the process of recovery from homelessness.

Barriers to services and housing, for many veterans, simply reinforces that recovery will always be an uphill battle. The need for hope on the part of the veteran is all too often diminished by a closed door. Veterans often hear “come back tomorrow” or “not today.” In the life of a homeless veteran, “tomorrow” may be as long as six months.

Concrete support for disenfranchised veterans is best consolidated in neutral service settings that allow veterans to tap professional services and seek companionship with each other. Just like service members returning from battle will tell you, they are trained to trust each other rather than an establishment.

What I have learned from working at IHS and through my formal social work training at University of Hawaii’s Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work is the power of a “person-centered” approach. What this actually means in the world of helping homeless veterans is supporting each individual to go forward from their own unique story. Too often homeless and homeless veterans are reduced to a cluster of symptoms.

The most powerful role models I have had in my own growth as a veteran in recovery and a social worker taught me that meaningful support is actually a commitment to reaching solutions. Having one door close often means knocking on two more. The “system” is complicated, inconsistent and overwhelmed — always. Homeless veterans need advocates.

Passive observers can never know the complexity of serving homeless and homeless veterans. In the homeless provider community, it is encouraging to see what is now called a “CES” (coordinated entry system). This system matches individual needs to services in ways that were previously tangled. This, along with the Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homeless, has brought the Veterans Affairs administration together with the larger provider community to partner, and with good result.

As we celebrate another Veterans Day, may we all reflect on how we might contribute to help end homelessness for the men and women who have served us in the military — whether it is a willingness to hire one, to house one or to simply share a meal and offer your thanks for their service.

Keith Billingsley is coordinator of the Veteran Services Program at The Institute for Human Services, Inc.