LA Area VFP Connections

While I’m here I am working with Long Beach VFP on ideas for us to work together as a region. We are considering something like Coffee Strong at Fort Lewis for San Diego area if all chapters would pitch in to support. We are also working on plans for the VAMC WLA property. A stand down at VAMC WLA is an excellent idea. I was on the readjustment team at the Santa Barbara Vet Center as alcoholism counselor. I took the vets on patrol to AA groups and other rehab efforts. Its important to know what comprises the 12-20,000 homeless veterans in Los Angeles County mentioned in previous emails. My experience would lead me to think that almost all of them are in the throes of substance abuse that is chronic and the reason for the homelessness, not the result of it. The principle at the Vet Center, and my reason for being on the team was that you could not do anything until the veteran got a handle on his substance abuse so that he came to therapy or housing clean and sober. Even when vets indicated that they were willing to try to clean up and get sober, most did not do so well enough to benefit from counseling or housing. A real willingness to do what is necessary for long term recovery is rare in the homeless population and housing them prior to them making that committment leads to a real nightmare. That is why New Directions has such a rigorous program. I think a small minority of the homeless vets may have PTSD but they will not benefit from treatment until they sober up if they are self medicating. This was my function at the Vet Center, I took vets that presented for help intoxicated and tried to help them sober up. If they were successful they were seen by a readjustment counselor, placed in a group or sent for long term treatment at Menlo Park etc.

Now I attend daily meetings in a “Veterans Building” run by Beacon House of San Pedro that is in an old Navy building at the corner of 10th and Mesa. There are veterans and homeless in attendance although most are living at Beacon House. I share experiences with them daily and it is a great source of gratitude and understanding.

VAMC WLA has many different housing projects in the old buildings, many of which are confined by client confidentiality requisites. I think you do not know how many of the vets are already there. I have attended groups with some of them. I wish Beacon House would take an old building like New Directions has, but there may not be enough homeless vets willing to do something about their substance abuse to fill another building….I don’t know. I do know that it would be real foolish to try to put all the homeless veterans on the VAMC WLA property without a committment to recovery!

My efforts at understanding what goes on at the VAMC WLA led to many discussions on that 388 acre campus.   VAMC WLA uses sharing partners to house homeless veterans and promote recovery and integration.  One revealing project is Strawberry Flag