Homeless outreach workers help the veterans who need more than our thanks

Everyone who served this country should have a home in it.

On Veterans Day, like every day, Minnesota was working toward that goal.

On Veterans Day, like every day, we fell short.

Minnesota counted at least 308 homeless veterans on Veterans Day 2020. That's 100 more than last year, despite enormous efforts by state agencies, nonprofits and volunteers to help the veterans who need so much more than our thanks.

"They were already walking that tightrope, and the pandemic just pushed so many people off the edge," said James McCloden, an Army veteran who went from jumping out of planes to jumping to the aid of fellow veterans through his work at the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV).

The matryoshka disasters of 2020 — pandemic stacked on civil unrest stacked on recession — has left some veterans with nowhere to turn.

"One thing goes wrong, two things go wrong, they can handle," McCloden said. "But six things go wrong? I'm not sure I could handle six things going wrong in my life."

The 52-year-old Army veteran had a career and a condo in Chicago's Tinley Park neighborhood a year ago. Then she got hurt, missed work, ran through her savings, moved in with her sister in Rochester, Minn., and found herself in the middle of a pandemic, looking for a place to live with no place to go.

That's when she turned to MACV and asked for help. Today, she's living in Chaska and working at a new job and grateful to all the Minnesotans who helped her get back on her feet.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she told Gov. Tim Walz and a small group assembled to celebrate one bit of good news 2020 had to offer: Chaska and other suburban metro cities saw their homeless veteran populations drop to zero this year.

"You couldn't have told me this time last year I'd be living in Chaska, Minnesota. I'd never heard of Chaska, Minnesota," Spencer said. "But I believe things happen for a reason."

One more veteran has a home. Three hundred and eight or so to go. Teams from MACV comb the streets, visit encampments and knock on tent flaps, looking for veterans who need help and are willing to accept it. Hotels or other transitional housing are often a first step toward rebuilding their lives.

MACV staff moved the family out of the cold and into a hotel, where the children tried to do their homework in the lobby.

"We realized we can do better," said Shannon Gregory, MACV metro regional leader, whose team found a local homebuilder who offered the family transitional housing in a new home north of St. Paul.

"They went from living in their car, then living in a new home; now they live in a beautiful four-bedroom home," Gregory said. "That is the impact of the work we are doing."

It's hard work, made harder by a pandemic that complicates every single step in the process of finding a home.

The pandemic can make it hard to house hunt or job hunt. The pandemic also makes it hard to get the basics you need to apply for a job or sign a lease.

No two veterans are alike; no two veterans face the same obstacles. Some need landlords who can look beyond a criminal record or history of substance abuse or a group home that isn't in pandemic lockdown. Some need a home with space for their children and pets — not every hotel is willing to shelter a veteran who arrives with a dog; even fewer want to take in a cat, McCloden has learned.

It can take months to move a veteran out of hotels and into a home. For those months, MACV staff are there to serve the people who served their country.

On Veterans Day, there were cookies. On Thanksgiving, there will be turkey. On the days between, there will be people there to help. All you have to do is ask for help.

"There's hope," Spencer said. "Don't give up."

If you're a veteran who could use some help, call the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs' toll-free helpline: 1-888-LinkVet (888-546-5838.)