Racing for Recovery’s™ motivational speaker, Todd Crandall, is coming to Bethlehem at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity on evening of 18 September. This may be of interest to some of our comrades or their families who have suffered the effects of alcohol/drug abuse or addiction. Using sports activity as a vehicle to recovery has taken hold of late in the current war veterans population. (more…)
Mini-Stand Downs for our homeless veterans continue to be active in our area for good reason. VALOR Clinic Foundation will have its next one on 18 October under the Fahey Bridge, Sand Island in Bethlehem, the same location as last time. It continues to alternate a Lehigh Valley location with the one at Dansbury Park, East Stroudsburg, on a monthly basis.
A little further afield are the efforts of the Second Brigade Motorcycle Club in Reading. See the flyer below. (more…)
Persistence pays. VALOR Clinic Foundation, a member of the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Action Committee (an LVMAC alliance) is conducting another one of its mini-stand downs in the Lehigh Valley. This time it will be on 16 August at Sand Island in the City of Bethlehem. It is its second attempt to reach out to the homeless in the Bethlehem area and its fifth stand down in the Lehigh Valley this year — the three other ones were conducted in the Allentown area. As related in a previous article, this nonprofit will serve any homeless person, not just veterans … but getting to our homeless veterans is its first priority. If you know of one, contact Bob Rapp (see flyer below). Transportation can be arranged. (more…)
As a result of the recent storm, roof damage has occurred at the Allentown VA Clinic, which necessitates a change of location of VALOR Clinic Foundation’s Mini-Stand Down on 15 February. Site has been moved to 1660 Cedar Crest Boulevard, the parking lot of the National Penn Bank in the Read more…
See our Street Sheet Section and other resources on this Answers Desk page: Local Homeless Veterans Resources. ### As of 12 December 2013
They say you can always learn from others. While it is a bit out of our area of operations, we think the 16 November Mini Stand Down in the Reading area is something about to which to take note. (Rumor has it there will be one at the Allentown VA Outpatient Clinic in the near future by another organization. Nothing official has come from the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center network to us.) As the cold weather approaches, such events for veterans who are homeless and perhaps living on the streets take on added significance. Kudos to Chapter G, 2nd Brigade Motorcycle Club for taking on this duty … and not just for the first time. See the flyer attached. (more…)
It is that time of year again when temperatures are getting cold again. Temperatures are predicted to be slightly below 32 degrees overnight throughout the next couple of days and into the weekend. I have spoken with both Shelter Directors (Salvation Army and Allentown Rescue Mission) who have agreed to Read more…
MR. DiLUZIO OF LVMAC SPEAKS OUT ON VETERANS HOMELESSNESS
Mr. Pat DiLuzio, Executive Director of Victory House, the area’s only VA recognized homelessness shelter and the new Homelessness Subcommittee Chairman for our Veterans Affairs Committee, addressed the Council at its 18 January 2012 meeting on the subject of homelessness and the plight of our veterans who are a significant proportion of that problem.
He started off with, “Close your eyes and when you think of a homeless person – what comes to mind or what do you see? Someone sitting on a heating grate; someone with a cup on corner of a busy street asking for food or dollars; children and families; someone in line at a soup kitchen; sadness and sorrow? These were some of the common answers I’ve heard people who were questioned about homelessness in United States.
“Others were asked, why do you think homelessness exists and what are the causes? The responses varied, but the top causes in the eyes of the respondents were: alcohol and drug addictions; family break-ups including abusive behavior/family dysfunctions; and physical and mental disabilities.
“But what is really interesting is that when people thought about what came to mind when they [the public] thought about homelessness, no one mentioned the homeless veteran.” (more…)