Program Moves Closer To Vets Downtown Office Makes Helping Homeless Easier

Five miles is a long way when you are sick, poor and homeless.

But that’s how far a homeless veteran living downtown had to travel to reach the wealth of services at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in northwest Spokane.

There had to be a better way and there was. On Tuesday it was shown off at 705 W. Second: the new offices of the Health Care for the Homeless Veterans program.

The program’s downtown office doesn’t have a soup kitchen, beds or a doctor’s office. Instead it has a staff that can help veterans find shelter, work, a doctor and a way off the streets.

For the past two years the program has been at the Veterans Affairs Hospital. It was moved to provide better access to downtown vets.

Each month, 30 to 35 new veterans use the program’s services, said Tom Reser, coordinator.

They live on the streets, in missions, under bridges and doubled up with family members and friends, Reser said.

Many simply don’t want to make the trip to the VA hospital. Others are too sick for the journey, he said.

Nationwide, an estimated 250,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. They make up roughly onethird of the nation’s homeless population.

In Spokane, the veterans Reser sees are between 45 and 54 years old. Nearly 80 percent have psychiatric or drug abuse problems or both, Reser said.

“But most have more education than the typical non-vet you find homeless,” he said.

Veterans can find help at the downtown office from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Appointments can be made by calling 353-2699. Walk-ins are also accepted.

The office is a joint project involving the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services and Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs, a private non-profit group that leases the space to the HCHV.

In the back of the office, volunteers run the Vet’s Day Labor program, which matches employers with veterans for short-term work.

“To a person short on income a day’s work means a helluva lot,” said Garland Enberg, one of the program’s volunteers. “Thirty or 40 dollars can make a big difference.”

The day labor program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekdays.

, DataTimes