Volume 7, No. 8 ©SS 2015
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015
INSTANT COMPASSION
STABLE HOUSING
FINDING SOLUTIONS
Page 2
Page 4
Page 6
Nonprofit helps veterans by paying rent deposits
For those struggling, a home can make all the difference
How some cities are tackling homelessness
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February 6, 2015
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
PAGE 2
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STRIPES •
Friday, February 6, 2015
SAFE HAVEN
GIVING THE GIFT OF
Dave Hammond ended up homeless in Toledo, Ohio, in 2012, seven years after his medical discharge from the Army. He moved into an apartment last fall with the help of Veterans Matter.
INSTANT COMPASSION
M ARTIN KUZ /Stars and Stripes
Ohio-based nonprofit helps veterans reclaim their lives by covering rent deposits BY M ARTIN KUZ Stars and Stripes
A
TOLEDO, Ohio whiteboard that hangs on the refrigerator in Dave Hammond’s apartment lists his itinerary to search for a life gone missing. In green marker and neat, coiled script, he has written 10 priorities for recovering what he lost in the years after his medical discharge from the Army in 2005. He longs to reunite with his young son, who lives with his ex-wife in Washington. He wants to find a job, return to school, buy a computer. He needs a driver’s license. In time, Hammond hopes to rewind the spiral that by 2012 had left him homeless, surviving on the dollar menu at McDonald’s and sleeping at bus stops.
He faces a long journey back from a decade of misfortune and mistakes, and there are days when his mood turns as leaden as Ohio’s winter sky. Still, looking out at the snowy tableau of downtown Toledo from the warmth of his 12th-floor apartment, he had reason for gratitude. He could ponder ambitions beyond the desire to be inside. “It was cold out there,” said Hammond, 34, who grew up in nearby Perrysburg and served six years in the Army before a degenerative back condition cut short his career. “When you don’t have a place to stay, that’s pretty much all you think about.”
“
He moved into his onebedroom unit in October with the help of Veterans Matter, a nonprofit established in Toledo in 2012. The group provides rent deposits for homeless veterans who qualify for federal housing vouchers through a program run by the departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development. The joint effort by the VA and HUD has boosted President Barack Obama’s five-year campaign to end homelessness among veterans. The push began in 2010, when more than 76,000 former
servicemembers lacked permanent housing. The VA reported last year that the number had dropped below 50,000. (The agency will release the results of its 2015 survey of homeless veterans, conducted earlier this week, in the coming months.) Yet the relative success of the voucher program obscures a pitfall that thwarts more veterans from escaping the purgatory of shelters and the streets. SEE COMPASSION ON PAGE 3
When you don’t have a place to stay, that’s pretty much all you think about. — Dave Hammond
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New Orleans announced in early January that it was the first major city in the country to meet a goal issued by the Obama administration in 2010: ending veteran homelessness. But despite dedicated efforts across the country to meet the goal by the end of 2015, and a renewed push last year after Michelle Obama’s announcement of the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, there has been no standard or official definition of what “eliminating veteran homelessness” really means. For Zero: 2016, a national campaign to end chronic and veteran homelessness by the end of 2016, “zero” means that at any point in time, the number of people experiencing homelessness won’t be greater than the community’s ability to place them in permanent housing. Beth Sandor, director of Zero: 2016, said her organization recognized early that it needed a clear definition of what it was working toward. New Orleans was one of more than 70 communities selected for the program, and in its news release about reaching the goal, defined ending veteran homelessness SEE CONQUER ON PAGE 3
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February 6, 2015
• STARS
SAFE HAVEN
HOMELESS VETERANS ON THE DECLINE
A N D
STRIPES •
The population of homeless veterans across the country has declined by more than 26,000, or 33 percent, since President Barack Obama launched a fiveyear campaign to end homelessness among veterans in 2010. To meet the goal, almost twice as many homeless veterans will need to be placed in permanent housing in 2015 as have been placed in the last four years.
76,329
2010
COMPASSION FROM PAGE 2
VETERANS
2011
67,495
VETERANS
2012 2013
62,619
VETERANS
VETERANS
57,849
49,933
2014
The vouchers do not cover rent deposits that landlords require as a condition of leasing. A veteran can apply for the money through an array of other programs, but approval routinely takes 30 to 60 days, and sometimes stretches to four months or longer. By then, in a typical scenario, a landlord has rented to another tenant, or the veteran has drifted out of the VA’s orbit. Veterans Matter seeks to reduce the wait from months to minutes. The organization has created a cloud-based platform for VA social workers and case managers to submit online requests for rent deposits. If the application conforms to VA and HUD guidelines, a Veterans Matter staffer accepts the request and mails a check that day to the landlord, who also receives a confirmation email. Most property managers treat the electronic notice as proof of payment and allow the veteran to move into housing without further delay. The accelerated process delivers “instant compassion,” in the words of Ken Leslie, the group’s founder, whose advocacy for the homeless in Toledo traces to his own time on the streets a quarter-century ago. “The philosophy is simple,” he said. “Get veterans housed to save their lives.” In three years, the group has raised $320,000 to cover deposits for more than 500 veterans in six states. The housing has benefited almost 800 dependents, including 200 children. Leslie, backed by one part-time employee and two contractors, plans to assist an additional 1,500 homeless veterans this year while expanding into more states, and he envisions offering aid nationwide by 2017. A former standup comedian with ties to the entertainment industry, he has drawn fundraising support from the likes of Katy Perry, Kid Rock, John Mellencamp and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top through public service announcements and concert ticket auctions. The high-profile names contrast with the group’s unseen impact. Hammond knew nothing of Veterans Matter before it paid his $475 deposit last fall. At the time, he was nearing the two-year limit for residency at a transitional housing complex for homeless veterans. He felt a gathering dread.
VETERANS
SOURCES: Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Housing and Urban Development
M ARTIN KUZ /Stars and Stripes
Three years ago, Ken Leslie founded Veterans Matter, a nonprofit based in Toledo, Ohio, that covers the rent deposits of homeless veterans to help them move into permanent housing. “I couldn’t have come up with the money,” he said. “I was worried I was going to be back on the streets.”
‘Black-ops speed’ Leslie’s concept for Veterans Matter bloomed three years ago in the chilled air of February. Every month or two, he and members of 1Matters, the homeless advocacy group he
formed in 2007, set out to visit different areas in the border region of northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan. They enter a parallel realm — a place of woodlands and train tracks, underpasses and vacant buildings — to look for those he dubs “the unhoused.” Joining the search party was his friend Shawn Dowling, a social worker with the VA’s Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Michigan, a network that encompasses Toledo. She mentioned that her office had recently received 35 housing vouchers. But unable to afford security deposits, the veterans who qualified for the program remained in limbo. Leslie asked how the VA attempted to come up with the deposits. “We take them around to VFWs and churches and help them beg,” Dowling said. Her answer at once pained and prodded Leslie, who had found himself among the unhoused in the late 1980s. During his touring days as a comedian, he had fallen for the dark charms of drugs and alcohol, an expensive romance that
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STARS AND STRIPES
Friday, February 6, 2015
PAGE 3
he preferred to paying rent. Sobriety arrived in 1990 after he realized how much he hated sleeping in his car. The same year, Leslie launched Tent City, an annual event that provides free job, housing and medical services to the homeless, and he has devoted much of the past 25 years to their plight. When Dowling explained that a modest $750 separated each veteran from permanent housing, he saw a chance to bring them across the threshold. The next morning he called Barbara Petee with ProMedica, a nonprofit health care network based in Toledo. She manages the group’s advocacy fund, distributing grants for regional projects that improve the health and well-being of low-income adults and children. Leslie laid out the dilemma of the 35 veterans and requested $26,250 to cover their deposits. He added that he wanted to acquire the funding “at black-ops speed.” Petee needed little persuading. “Just because something like veterans’ homelessness is a difficult problem doesn’t mean we have to try to find difficult solutions,” she said. “It was clear Ken’s idea could help these veterans right away.” Seven days later — “Valentine’s Day, 5:36 p.m.,” to Leslie’s memory — Petee called back to tell him ProMedica would supply the grant. “Three days after that, we housed our first veteran,” he said. “Eleven days from idea to execution. And it’s only because it’s so simple and it’s focused only on the people.”
A translator between worlds The work of Veterans Matter in the ensuing years has had a dramatic effect on the VA’s housing program in the area. Dowling related that, before 2012, an average of 137 days elapsed between a former servicemember applying for a voucher and signing a lease. The wait has since plunged to 32 days. She identified Leslie’s organization as the principal reason, even as funding for rent deposits has become available through other federal programs. The group, acting with a nimbleness mostly unknown to government agencies, has enabled 90 veterans in the region to move into permanent housing. SEE COMPASSION ON PAGE 6
CONQUER FROM PAGE 2
as “ensuring every homeless veteran who can be located is placed in permanent housing or in temporary housing with an identified permanent housing placement” within 30 days. That doesn’t mean that no veteran will ever again fall into homelessness in New Orleans, said Baylee Crone, executive director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. But now, there is a system in place to find permanent housing for those veterans quickly, she said. The philosophy of “housing first” requires moving the homeless into permanent housing quickly — and frequently requires lowering barriers to entry to that housing. For example, where people may have previously been required to complete a drug or alcohol treatment plan prior to being placed in permanent housing, now they could be placed in housing and given a case manager for access to the treatment and other services at a later time. Though the approach is “not perfect by any means,” research has shown it works, Crone said. The key for communities and outreach teams is to know every person on the streets or in a shelter, Crone and Sandor said. “If you don’t know their name and needs, you’ll never know what you need to get them into permanent housing,” Sandor said. And the fact that New Orleans has hit the goal “is a gamechanger,” Sandor said. “It is a proof point,” she said, “an amazing example of what’s possible with good leadership, with the introduction of best practices, of knowing every single person’s name, of not giving up until we get there.” New Orleans’ achievement also is helpful for other communities that may be looking for their own definition of zero, Crone said, as well as those looking for best practices and ways to track their progress. The city took the number of homeless veterans from a pointin-time count last year, 193, as its starting point, and was able to house 127 of them in six months, she said. But the work is not over: Organizations there must continue to connect people with the resources they need to get back on their feet. “Ending veteran homelessness is not a set point in time,” Crone said. hlad.jennifer@stripes.com Twitter: @jhlad
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STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
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Friday, February 6, 2015
SAFE HAVEN
The difference a home makes BY M ARTIN KUZ Stars and Stripes
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A simple rule guided Travis Goodman during the years he sought shelter in vacant houses across Ohio’s capital city. “Go in late, get out early.” Slipping into an empty home after nightfall and vanishing before daybreak reduced the risk that a neighbor would spot him and call police. If he moved only in the dark, he could sleep unnoticed in the same house for days, sometimes weeks. But now and then alcohol and pot loosened his discipline. The cops would show up and arrest the former Marine, charging him with trespassing or drug possession or both. He might stay in a homeless shelter for a stretch before resuming his particular style of house hunting. Goodman worked a string of construction and warehouse jobs that earned him enough to afford a place of his own. He chose instead to invest in his vices, and when money ran short, he turned to petty theft and check forgery. There were more short stints in jail as lessons went unlearned. He spun in that cycle for more than a decade until the day in 2011 when he received a call from his sister. She had seen a report on TV about a new housing community for disabled and homeless veterans. She urged him to apply for an apartment there. The call coincided with his growing sense that he needed to change. The old military man felt hollowed out in body and mind. “I got tired of being tired, and I got tired of being ashamed,” said Goodman, 54, who grew up in Columbus and joined the Marines in 1978 for a threeyear stint. “Your conscience starts to get to you. You start seeing yourself as less than human.” In summer 2012, he received approval to move into the Commons at Livingston, a red-brick, three-story housing complex of 50 one-bedroom units run by National Church Residences. The nonprofit housing provider, based in Columbus, expanded the campus last year, doubling its capacity to house 100 veterans. A framed portrait of Goodman as an 18-year-old private stands on a table in his apartment. The young man in the uniform now appears more familiar to him in some ways than the ver-
PHOTOS
BY
M ARTIN KUZ /Stars and Stripes
Travis Goodman, a former Marine, lives in a one-bedroom apartment at the Commons at Livingston, a permanent supportive housing community in Columbus, Ohio, for disabled and homeless veterans. Goodman served a threeyear stint starting in 1978, and later was homeless for more than a decade. sion of himself who first arrived at the Commons. He has been sober for more than two years. He holds a part-time maintenance job and attends classes as he pursues a GED. He started dating a woman last year and spends more time with his three siblings, who live in the city. The purpose of his life has transcended the impulse to invade and evade, to “go in late, get out early.” “I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t ended up here. Probably back in jail or dead,” he said. Large windows let in the day’s pale light as he relaxed on an amply pillowed sofa, arms splayed, his voice as serene as his manner. “I have goals now. Direction.”
Stable housing Goodman counts among the more than 26,000 former servicemembers who have migrated from the country’s
streets and homeless shelters into stable housing since 2010. The population of homeless veterans topped 76,000 at the time. The number had fallen below 50,000 last year in a survey by the Department of Veterans Affairs. (The agency conducted its annual survey of homeless veterans this week and will release the findings later this year.) A five-year national campaign to end homelessness among veterans, launched by President Barack Obama in 2010, has propelled efforts to bring them into permanent supportive housing. The model combines a comfortable living space among their own with
“
ready access to job, medical and counseling services. Funded through local, state and federal programs, the Commons resembles an independent living facility for seniors. Each apartment includes a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, and there’s a large hall for group gatherings and computer, fitness and laundry rooms. Residents sign a renewable one-year lease and are allowed to stay indefinitely, paying monthly rent equal to 30 percent of their income, or no less than $50. SEE HOME ON PAGE 14
I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t ended up here. Probably back in jail or dead. I have goals now. Direction. — Travis Goodman
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STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
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Friday, February 6, 2015
SAFE HAVEN COMPASSION FROM PAGE 3
The urgency is crucial given the prevalence of addiction and mental illness among the homeless. “If you take too long to get veterans housed, you’ll lose them,” Dowling said. “They’ll go away, and they’ll stay gone until you can find them again.” Toledo has earned national notice for aiding former military members in need through the cooperation of public officials, social service agencies, nonprofit groups and private businesses. The latest evidence of progress is a $12.5-million, 75-unit apartment complex for low-income and homeless veterans that will open this summer on the city’s south side. Veterans Matter will contribute to covering the rent deposits of tenants. For their efforts, Leslie and Mayor D. Michael Collins, along with civic leaders from 80 cities, were invited to Washington last spring for a summit on ending homelessness among veterans hosted by first lady Michelle Obama. On a recent morning, the two men shook hands and hugged when they met in the mayor’s office on the 22nd floor of the city’s government center. A gray haze shrouded vistas of downtown outside the floor-toceiling windows as Collins, a former Marine, discussed his guest’s clarity of purpose. “What often happens in the political arena is like a BaskinRobbins experience. An issue comes up and it’s the flavor of the day, so everybody comes together and says, ‘This isn’t right and we have to do something about it,’ ” he said. “Then the following day there’s a new issue and everybody says the same thing, and nobody pays attention to yesterday’s issue. That’s why it’s good to have people like Ken. He doesn’t let you forget.” For someone who once made a living by seeking the laughter and affirmation of strangers, Leslie, 57, demurs when praised for his advocacy. He diverts credit to Dowling and her VA colleagues, to Petee and ProMedica, to Collins and other elected officials, to the county’s housing authority and Veterans Service Commission. “I’m not that smart. Really — that’s not fake humility,” he said, his gray ponytail spilling down beneath a porkpie hat, a pair of red-framed sunglasses perched on the brim. He talked in the rapid cadence of a man
How cities around the US are doing Since 2010, when President Barack Obama launched a five-year national campaign to end homelessness among veterans, the number of former servicemembers living on the streets has dropped from over 76,000 to below 50,000. In early January, officials in New Orleans declared that their city was the country’s first to find permanent housing for all of its homeless veterans, who numbered 227 at the start of last year. Here’s a look at efforts in a handful of other U.S. cities, based on figures provided by federal, state and local agencies. — Martin Kuz Portland, Ore.: City officials announced in November that 139 homeless veterans had been housed since April, exceeding the goal of 100 set in the spring. Housing advocates and city officials have announced a joint initiative to move 424 homeless veterans off the streets by year’s end.
Los Angeles: The Department of Veterans Affairs just agreed to create a plan to end homelessness among veterans in the city, which has more than 4,200 former servicemembers who lack permanent housing, the largest such population in the country. The agreement, reached in a lawsuit that accused the VA of neglecting homeless veterans, also calls for the creation of permanent supportive housing on a 400-acre VA campus in West Los Angeles.
Phoenix: From 2010 through 2013, the city housed 222 veterans classified as chronically homeless, making Phoenix the nation’s first city to eliminate veterans’ homelessness in that category. Among former servicemembers who lack permanent housing but are not considered chronically homeless, the city’s population fell from 187 in 2011 to 48 last year.
Houston: The city found housing for 2,800 homeless veterans from 2012 to 2014, reducing Houston’s overall homeless population by almost 40 percent. Among the remaining 681 homeless veterans who were counted in a survey in January 2014, more than half were in the process of receiving housing by September.
Chicago: Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled a $5 million plan last fall to provide housing for the city’s 721 homeless veterans by the end of this year. Federal agencies will cover $4.2 million of the tab, which includes construction of two permanent supportive housing communities for 127 veterans. The remaining veterans will be placed in existing affordable housing.
New York: The city’s population of homeless veterans fell by almost twothirds between 2011 and 2014, with 3,032 former servicemembers placed in permanent housing. Several housing projects are underway across the city as officials seek to place the remaining 1,300 homeless veterans.
concert for family farmers inspired Leslie to launch his Tent City project five years later. During a tour stop in Toledo in 2007, Mellencamp visited the Tent City venue to meet with homeless residents. Leslie forged a bond with him, and the singer has recorded a public service announcement to promote Veterans Matter. Similar support from Ice-T, Susan Sarandon and other entertainers has raised thousands of dollars in donations and extended the group’s presence into Indiana, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington. Leslie’s emphasis on recruiting the famous to crusade for the anonymous arises from a populist sensibility. He believes that celebrities, by illuminating a hidden struggle, can motivate Americans to care about those who served and who now live on the streets. “I don’t think of John Mellencamp as a star. I consider him a comrade in arms,” he said. He held up his hands as if clasping a basketball and moved them toward each other. “What I try to do is sort of be a translator between these two worlds and get them a little closer. Because in the end, we’re all at the same level.”
‘A big relief’
M ARTIN KUZ /Stars and Stripes
Ken Leslie, left, the founder of Veterans Matter, talks with Greg Johnson, an Iraq War veteran, last month in Johnson’s apartment in Toledo, Ohio. Leslie’s Toledo-based organization paid the $540 rent deposit that helped Johnson move into the space in September. who, in addition to managing his nonprofit endeavors, must squeeze enough minutes from the day to run a small headhunting firm. “I’m very simple, and so when I see a problem, I look for a simple solution.” Leslie, who grew up in Perrysburg and lives in Toledo
with his wife, keeps an office on the ground floor of a business center converted from an old shopping mall. He has a view of a parking lot. On the wall behind his desk hangs a photo of the late folk singer Harry Chapin, one of his three heroes together with Irish
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songwriter Bob Geldof and John Mellencamp. He reveres the trio less for their music than for their humanitarian work. Like Chapin before him, Geldof has fought to end world hunger; Mellencamp cofounded Farm Aid in 1985. The annual benefit
Leslie stepped inside Greg Johnson’s apartment and shook hands with the Iraq War veteran while clapping him on the shoulder. “What’s up, bitch?” Leslie said. Both men laughed as Johnson replied in kind. The Toledo native moved into the one-bedroom unit on the city’s west side last fall after Veterans Matter paid the $540 rent deposit. He had spent the summer living out of a 2001 Cadillac DeVille. His wardrobe consisted of two pairs of pants and a few T-shirts that he stashed in the trunk. He drove to a Rite Aid each morning to shave and wash up in the bathroom. Johnson deployed to Iraq in 2007. A year removed from high school, he belonged to an Army flag detail at Camp Liberty in Baghdad that took part in memorial ceremonies for fallen troops. The duty weighed on him as the months passed.
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POINT TAKEN By Jessica C. Crawford
126 Part of the brain
63 Better suited
128 Tire mishap
33 Ones leading the pack
87 Bran type
64 Refuse receptacle
129 Spine-tinglingly weird
34 Toyota model
90 Affected dandy
130 Arrival island for many
35 Pelvic bones
92 Thin plate or layer
36 Fevers with chills
96 Continental currency
131 Trouble spot for Indiana Jones
37 Leaders of movements
97 Parodied
132 Forms an opinion
38 Antacid, for short
66 Assessor
1
Capo’s group
68 Like Scrooge McDuck
6
Pasta, potatoes and such
70 ___ carotene
19 “Dynasty” actress Linda 20 Garlicky garnish 21 Swallow routes 22 Common tablet PC feature 24 Waterproof roof joints 25 Architectural band 26 ___ Arabia 28 Jack and Jill’s carryall 29 Island near Java 30 Make fun of 32 Examine, as evidence 35 Story with bite 38 Moisten, as a roast 40 “If ___ told you once ...” 43 Bro or 18-Down, e.g. 45 “Long ___ ...” 46 Temporary paper currency 48 Earth, air, fire or water, e.g. 51 Rock with value 52 Bodybuilder’s exercise 54 ___ Bell (fast-food chain) 55 Respect for others’ beliefs
yet?”
62 Grand ___ (vintage)
ACROSS
11 Swimmers’ woes
1/18/13 11:43 AM
71 Facial flaw 74 Drive-___ window 75 Producing an effect
133 Corn-chip dip
78 “___ Man” (Village People hit)
DOWN
79 Fishing nets
1
82 Civil War general
“I never ___ man I didn’t like”
39 Having no feet
99 Colonizes 104 Main dish
41 Soft palate
106 “A Streetcar Named Desire” role
42 Hurricane heading, sometimes
108 Sweater style
44 Distrustful
109 ___-cochere (carriage entrance)
83 “Born in the ___” (Springsteen tune)
2
The Bard’s river
47 Bled in the laundry
111 Impressive degree
3
Goat-legged deity
112 Pesky arachnids
86 Vacation memento
4
Demons that prey upon sleepers
49 “... yadda, yadda, yadda”
88 Have a funny feeling 89 Next life 91 Unwritten test 93 ___ good example 94 Cause wonder 95 Small hairpieces 98 Tiniest bits 100 Radiation dosage 101 Fold, spindle or mutilate 102 Air pressure meas. 103 Overturn or overthrow 105 Gentlemen (Abbr.) 107 “Answer, please” (Abbr.) 110 Cook’s covering 112 Catcher’s need 113 “___ as good a time as any” 116 Owl noises
57 Come up again
118 Temporary period
59 Opposite of apex
122 Not aboveboard
50 Bad-mouths
5
Masonry stones
6
Desert growths
53 Swiss canton or its capital
7
Balloon’s filling
56 Mimicries
8
Some reddish deer
58 Knocking noise
9
Sounds from a flock
60 Agendum, e.g.
10 Curve in and out 11 Amazon zapper 12 “... and make it fast!” 13 Santa ___, California 14 Sap-sucking insect genus 15 Hotdog topper, sometimes
61 Amend, as an atlas section 65 Actress Fabray, for short
31 Malayan island
120 Large wading bird 121 Clifflike, flat-topped elevation 122 ___ and downs 123 Her life is in order? 124 Modern evidence 127 “Bus” or “rod” starter
72 Guaranteed winner 73 Drag race participant
76 Period before a conflict
27 Two-person fight
119 Bagel kin
69 “___ your call”
17 Breakfast item
24 “Jaws” sighting
117 In need of a massage
125 Tennis court divider
75 Old Irish memorial inscription
23 Cull
115 Mumbai dress
67 With money to burn
16 Harrison in “Star Wars” 18 Sibling, in brief
114 Defeat a la Ali
77 Ballerina’s skirts 80 “Steer” anagram 81 Parts of a baseball 84 Old photo tone 85 “___ we having fun
Last week’s answers
8
February 6, 2015
ALASKA EDITION
Black History Month Series
African Americans’ Contribution to the Construction of the Alcan Highway “The road was built with bulldozers and the guts of men.” (Military quote—1942) from Donna Blasor-Bernhardt (2010-03-08). Pioneer Road (Kindle Location 113). ArcheBooks Publishing. Kindle Edition.
By Major Mike Dryden AVN USAR Retired
ada. The construction began in cold spring of 1942 with the construction of a platoon bridge for short term use for the crew. Timbers were being cut for Author of Monroe County Murder the temporary truss bridge that the Corp of Engineer knew would be swept away during the next spring breakup. But fuel and supplies could be moved over s construction work began in spring of 1942 on it until civilian construction companies arrived who the Alcan, black engineers from three segregated was already being mobilized for follow up replaceunits started making history. In honor of Black Histo- ment of all temporary bridges. ry Month, I will focus will be on the participation of The men of 95th African American troops in the Alcan construction. waded into the swiftly These soldiers who, although were still segregated flowing cold spring The men of 95th from white units, managed to distinguish themselves breakup waters of the with the worst equipment, food and living conditions waded into the Sikanna Chief River of the 10,000 plus Army soldiers during the Alcan swiftly flowing with little more than construction. Three thousand five hundred plus raw rubber waders. They black mostly southern troops comprised the 93rd, cold spring began to set the pil95th and 97th General Services Engineer Regiments breakup waters of ings as the other troops (all black except for the white officers). They were the Sikanna Chief were laying freshly transferred to Alaska and Dawson Creek, BC Canada sawn decking over the to begin the construction in the winter of 1942. Most River with little support structure. The of the black southern troops had never been outside more than rubber work was dirty, cold of the county in which they were born and had no and difficult since few waders. road building experience. Most were assigned pick of the black soldiers and shovel work at first because the best equipment had any prior road or was re-assigned to the white regiments. Eventually, bridge construction exthe black regiments received some D-4 Caterpillar perience. What they did have were transferrable skills bulldozers and by the end of the project had D-8s and D-9 Cats with some road scrapers for good measure. set which allowed them to become productive in a short period. I will endeavor to highlight the major projects of each regiment in future articles since they were all de- The white officers assigned to the black units for the ployed to different segments of the route. I would like most part weren’t the best the Army had to offer and to start with the 95th’s construction of the Sikanna thought the southern black troops were slow learnChief River Bridge north of Dawson Creek, BC Can- ers. The truth was their inadequate education was because in the Jim Crow South blacks were sent to sub-standard schools in the prevailing separate but equal education system. Most were field hands prior to enlistment but had been working on tractors and barns since they could walk and adapted well to this new experience.
A
The Sikanna Chief River Bridge was completed in just three days of 24 hour a day effort and amazed everyone up the chain of command. At the time, blacks were given little if any recognition for their contribution as demonstrated by a US Army Signal Corp film from the late 1940s. It was 28 minutes in length and had less than 10 seconds devoted to the black troops. All it showed was a black unit in the
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chow line and said, “Colored soldiers did their part.” I would argue they did much more because this was the beginning of the de-segregation of the Armed Service by order of President Truman in 1948. The black Engineer Regiments did more with less than the other regiments and were re-assigned to both the European and Pacific theaters of combat where they distinguished themselves in battle. These men and the ones that followed paved the way for the sweeping civil rights changes that occurred in the 1960s. If you ever have the chance to meet a veteran of one of these units, please take the time to profusely thank them for their service and their contribution to the construction of the “Greatest Highway in America”.
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February 6, 2015
February 6, 2015
11
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
Friday, February 6, 2015
A N D
STRIPES •
PAGE 11
MILITARY
Daniel Dailey takes over as sergeant major of the Army BY JON H ARPER Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — Daniel Dailey was sworn in Jan. 30 as the new sergeant major of the Army, becoming the service chief’s top adviser on matters affecting enlisted soldiers. He takes over the post at a time of transition for the Army. The force is emerging from more than 13 years of warfare, and is facing major troop level cuts and budget restrictions that are already impacting servicemembers and their families. Dailey is no stranger to the challenges facing the troops. He enlisted in 1989 and became an infantryman. Early in his career he participated in Operation Desert Storm, and later went on four overseas deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. He was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” for valor for his actions with the Army’s 4th Infantry Division during the fighting in Sadr City at the height of the insurgency in Iraq. “I’ve trained and fought with those soldiers [I’ll be representing],” Dailey said during an interview with Stars and Stripes in his new office. Prior to becoming sergeant major of the Army, he served as command sergeant major of the United States Army Train-
ing and Doctrine Command. “He brings this broad experience of both understanding the institutional side as well as the tactical and operational side” of the force, Army chief of staff Gen. Ray Odierno said during the swearing-in ceremony at the Pentagon. “In my mind, there’s no one more qualified to take on the responsibility and the challenges that our Army faces in the future.” Dailey, a native of Palmerton, Pa., said he didn’t seem destined for leadership when he was young. “I was just somewhere in the middle of the class [academically],” he told the audience. “I played high school sports but I wasn’t a superstar athlete … By all accounts I was just a poor average kid from northeastern Pennsylvania.” He credits others for molding him into someone who could rise to the top. “How does the middle of the road guy make it to this rank, to wear this rank, to represent the finest fighting force the world has known? The answer is simple … It’s leadership. Leadership from great soldiers, noncommissioned officers, and officers that I served with over the years,” he said. “Leadership is not born, it’s built over time. It takes great leaders to build leaders,
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Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel A. Dailey sits beside his wife, Holly, and son, Dakota, just before being called up to become the 15th sergeant major of the Army on Jan. 30. and I’m merely a product of the best the Army has ever had to offer. It is no less their achievement that Dan Dailey is the 15th sergeant major of the Army.” Many of Dailey’s mentors were at the ceremony, including former company, brigade and division commanders. Dailey honored them all by name. “These professionals took a poor kid off the streets of a zinc town in northeastern Pennsylvania and built him into the soldier you see today. So Gen. Odierno, if I mess this up now you know exactly who needs to be held accountable,” Dailey joked. Dailey used his own life story to encourage others who might not stand out in their early lives and careers.
Dailey is sworn in as sergeant major of the Army during a ceremony at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. Administering the oath is Gen. Ray Odierno, chief of staff of the Army, as Dailey’s wife, Holly, looks on. “Any soldier in today’s Army, even an average soldier like [I was], has the potential to be an Army senior leader someday,” he said. “It just requires two things: great
leadership and a strong Army family.” Dailey replaces Raymond Chandler, who is retiring. harper.jon@stripes.com Twitter: @JHarperStripes
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12
STARS AND STRIPES • STARS
PAGE 12
A N D
STRIPES •
February 6, 2015 Friday, February 6, 2015
Concerns over pension and military pay reform
AFGHANISTAN
“I
CARLO MUNOZ /Stars and Stripes
Members of the Washington Redskins cheerleading squad take a group selfie with U.S. troops during the Super Bowl XLIX party at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, on Monday.
GIs in Afghanistan revel in Super Bowl BY CARLO MUNOZ Stars and Stripes
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Though it may not be an official holiday, Super Bowl Sunday remains a cause for celebration for football fans throughout the United States. It’s no different for the roughly 10,600 American servicemembers still stationed in Afghanistan. U.S. civilians and military personnel based at Bagram spent two months preparing for the game. They created football-themed decorations throughout the sprawling base and planned a massive Super Bowl party at the “Clamshell,” one of the base’s biggest Morale, Welfare and Recreation facilities. In his first Super Bowl downrange, Air Force 1st Lt.
See more photos of Super Bowl events at Bagram at stripes.com/go/superbowl Andrew Carper and his team helped pull together enough food, games and entertainment to get the crowd of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines ready for the kickoff at 4 a.m. Monday in Afghanistan. Asked about his experience, Carper replied, “It’s what I hoped it would be.” As kickoff neared, groups of servicemembers huddled around several flat-screen televisions set up for a Madden 15 video game tournament while others gravitated toward the cornhole games going on near the foosball table, which was tucked next to coolers full of sodas and nonalcoholic beer. Others, in a bow to U.S. military regulations, played
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rounds of “near-beer pong” on long, folding tables lined with cups of water. Those who didn’t play helped themselves to plates of traditional football fare — pizza, burgers and chicken wings — and listened to Lo!Krawl, 3rd Infantry Division’s rock band. Members of the Washington Redskins cheerleading squad entertained the football fans in a pregame show, then took selfies with groups of soldiers and airmen. After the final whistle blew on Super Bowl XLIX and the New England Patriots eked out a 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks early Monday morning, Carper said all the planning and hard work were worth it. “It’s about everyone else [here],” not just those who helped bring the Super Bowl to Bagram, he said.
This publication is a compilation of stories from Stars and Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper authorized by the Department of Defense for members of the military community. The contents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, including the Defense Department or the military services. The U.S. Edition of Stars and Stripes is published jointly by Stars and Stripes and this newspaper. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the DOD or Stars and Stripes of the products or services advertised. Products or services advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron.
© Stars and Stripes, 2015
well as federal contributions. t’s been said that If the MCRMC’s recomour military has mendations become reality, basically become active-duty military families a pension, benefit, would choose their healthhealth-care company that occare coverage and providers casionally fights a war,” Jason based on the needs of their Grumet commented this week own families, rather than the on C-SPAN, discussing the dictates of Tricare. Activenewly released report from duty members would receive the Military Compensation a basic allowance for health and Retirement Modernizacare to cover premiums and tion Commission. some out-of-pocket costs. Actually, that has not been The president’s budget said — until Grumet, the presproposal has a very different ident of the Bipartisan Policy vision, one which includes Center, said it, misquoting retired combat veteran Arnold Tricare in an altered state and would also require more outPunaro. What Punaro, now of-pocket a Pentagon consultant and SPOUSE CALLS costs for advocate of military reform, military has said in various interviews families and is this: “If we allow the curretirees. rent trend to continue, we’re The comgoing to turn the Department mission’s of Defense into a benefits compurpose pany that occasionally kills a was to sugterrorist.” gest benefit Punaro’s comment is not a reforms that statement about what is, but would aid a warning about what could Terri Barnes recruitment be. He’s also said that reforms and retento military tion in the compensation Join the conversation with Terri at military, not should not re- stripes.com/go/spousecalls to cut costs. duce benefits However, of troops who the panel estimates their 15 are currently serving. recommendations could save The results of the MCRMC, the government $5 billion next a nine-member panel creyear, possibly $10.4 billion a ated by Congress, are being year by 2020. discussed this week on social Some of the recommendamedia, around military family tions do seem more likely to tables and on Capitol Hill. save money for the governAlso released this week was ment than for military famithe president’s budget, with lies, notably the changes to different ideas about how to retiree health care. While the reform military benefits and MCRMC’s new pension plan maintain readiness. All the includes a grandfather clause recommendations, for now, for military members who are are only recommendations. currently serving and retirMy initial reaction to the ees, the health care changes MCRMC’s findings was posido not. tive. Most of their conclusions Retirees under 65 would speak to my experiences, pay incrementally increasing either in my own military life or as an observer and reporter premiums in the MCRMC plan. The president would reof this way of life. The recommendations include changes to quire increased premiums, as well as copays, even for using military pensions and activeduty health care, consolidating military treatment facilities. Our leaders say they want exchanges and commissaries, reforms that aid recruitment streamlining various GI Bill and retention. Perhaps they provisions, offering more opdon’t consider treatment tions for survivor benefits and of retirees essential to that Space-A travel. Current active-duty pay structures would purpose, but it is. Reducing benefits for those who have be left intact. already served sends a clear The panel suggests a new message to present and future retirement structure that military members, that promwould include individual ises were made to be broken. investment and portability, as
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February 6, 2015
13
ALASKA EDITION
code breaker In these Code Quotes from America’s history, each letter given is a code consisting of another letter. To solve this Code Quote, you must decode the puzzle by replacing each letter with the correct one. An example is shown. A ‘clue’ is available if you need extra help. Example: G E O R G E W A S H I N G T O N Is coded as: W J A M W J G I T C X Z W F A Z E U
X A A U K B
B O U
B O U
I U H I S U
K P W O B A . B I X B
E U
P G
I K H D P G Z U B O U
B O K H W
W H D U K G U G B A
H V
W H D U K G F U G B
U G Q H M F U G B
B H
Z X G
B O U
W P D U
H V
E P G T A K P W O B A .
B H
B O U P K B O U
C G X S P U G X Y S U
H S T
A C A G
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T H W F X
X G B O H G M
Hint: This American civil rights leader learned to read and write at the age of three, but her education was interrupted when her family was financially ruined in the Panic of 1837. Last week’s answer: “The great advantage of our system of government over all others, is that we have a written constitution, defining its limits, and prescribing its authorities.” Henry Clay
word search
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MARTIN JUNIOR THURGOOD Black History ROBINSON ABRAHAM Martin RHODES Luther CHISHOLM GEORGE King RALPH MCDANIEL Junior
LUTHER ROSA MARSHALL FREDERICK LINCOLN Marshall REVELS Jackie GUION CRUM Robinson BUNCHE
Hiram
Frederick
Shirley
Ralph
Rosa
Douglas
Chisholm
Bunche
Parks
Abraham
Guion
Hattie
Thurgood
Lincoln
Bluford
McDaniel
Rhodes Revels
KING PARKS JACKIE DOUGLAS HIRAM George SHIRLEY Crum BLUFORD POTATOCHIPS Potato Chips HATTIE
Previous week’s answers
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February 6, 2015 Friday, February 6, 2015
SAFE HAVEN HOME FROM PAGE 4
COMPASSION FROM PAGE 6
VA social workers and case managers work out of offices in the building, and every week there are regular visits by physical and occupational therapists, behavioral health providers and job and education counselors. Apart from job or education training for the unemployed, the services are made available without requiring tenants to take part, creating an ethos of autonomy that nurtures their dignity. “What we’ve seen for the most part is that veterans want to get better,” said Robyn Haycook, a support services coordinator with National Church Residences. “They’ll generally seek the help they need once they’re here. But it’s important for them to feel that it’s their decision, and we want them to have that independence.” The rate of homelessness among veterans nationwide remains twice that of those who have never served in the armed forces. Returning to the civilian world can inflame feelings of isolation for veterans as they mourn the loss of their military identity. The sense of estrangement often persists even for those who cope without retreating to the streets. Living with fellow veterans in permanent supportive housing offers a healing camaraderie, an oasis of shared experience and empathy. “For some of them, being here is the first time they’ve felt connected to anyone since they got out of the military,” Haycook said. “They feel like they’re part of something again.” The presence of others who wore the uniform has comforted Chris Eckert. The Army veteran, who mustered out in 1996 after six years, lost his warehouse logistics job in 2013. His savings had drained away by early last year, and he wound up in a homeless shelter for several months before moving into the Commons in September. “This has been like a safe haven for me,” said Eckert, 45, who struggles with seizures and the effects of a brain tumor that impairs his vision. “I wish the things that brought me here hadn’t happened. But at the same time I feel lucky to be here because I’m around people who understand. There’s just a bond you feel with another veteran that you can’t get with somebody else.”
Blaine Ware found himself homeless after the death of his girlfriend three years ago. The former Marine, who left the service in 1983 after four years, initially resisted asking for help. “It was hard,” said Ware, 55, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio. “I’m supposed to serve others, not have others serve me.” Yet his time at the Commons has enabled him to land a job at a retail clothing chain and prepare for moving out in the next year or two. “I’ve been fortunate to have this opportunity to put my life back together,” he said. “I’m not sure what I would have done otherwise.” For Travis Goodman, who lost so many years to alcohol and drugs and self-inflicted inertia, the Commons represents redemption. He plans to collect his GED later this year and switch to full-time work, and if he saves enough money, the man who once skulked into houses hopes to someday buy one. “It’s only by luck that I didn’t die,” he said. “I got a second shot. I’m not going to let it pass.”
“Even though I wasn’t going outside the wire much, seeing those bodies going home does have an effect on you,” he said. “You start to think, ‘Could I be next?’ ” He returned to Toledo following his honorable discharge in 2009, and over the next five years his life imploded in slow motion. By last spring, he was unemployed and estranged from his wife, and the county had taken custody of his three young children after police charged him with domestic assault. Johnson found renewed hope when he connected with Dowling and her team with the VA in August. Gaining a fixed address a month later freed him to begin rebuilding his future. He soon picked up a part-time job at the post office and enrolled in a counseling course for domestic violence that grants him visitation with his kids. A local nonprofit donated a bed, recliner and a handful of other furnishings for his apartment, and though the space still appears more empty than occupied, the comforts surpass those of a Cadillac. “Having this place has been a big relief,” said Johnson, 27, who wore a blue T-shirt imprinted with the words “I Am... Appreciated.” “I know an apartment doesn’t change everything, and I know I have a long way to go. But being here makes it easier to focus on what I need to do to turn things around. When you don’t have a place to live, you’re just thinking about survival.” Dowling regards permanent housing as essential to guiding former servicemembers toward VA support services and, in turn, restoring their dignity. She described Veterans Matter as relentless in pursuing a mission that may mean life instead of death. “These men and women are either going to die on the streets or we can give them a place to live and help them regain control of their lives,” she said. “They served their country. I think we owe it to them to get them housed as fast as we can, and that’s what Ken does.” The cause animates Leslie. Driving to a meeting after leaving Johnson’s apartment, he received a call from a VA social worker in Dallas. She asked if he could cover a $250 rent deposit for a veteran who had qualified for the voucher program. “Yup, no problem,” he said. “The check will go out this afternoon.” The entire exchange lasted under a minute. A couple of hours later, sitting at his desk, Leslie slipped the check into an envelope. He looked up and smiled. “Another veteran housed. Boom. Done.”
kuz.martin@stripes.com Twitter:@MartinKuz
kuz.martin@stripes.com Twitter: @MartinKuz
A second shot The Commons blends into a milieu of residential and commercial properties on the east side of Columbus. Five years ago, in the project’s early stages, the “crazy vet” stereotype shadowed its development, with some residents and business owners nervous about housing former servicemembers in the area. A similar strain of anxiety has run through other cities, and projects have been scuttled or scaled back as a result. Around the Commons, meanwhile, the
M ARTIN KUZ /Stars and Stripes
Blaine Ware, a former Marine who left the service in 1983, has lived at the Commons at Livingston in Columbus, Ohio, since 2012. divide between the civilian and military realms appears to have dissolved. Veterans from the complex participate in the neighborhood’s “block watch” aimed at deterring crime and mingle with residents at community events. Michael Preston, a regional director for National Church Residences, ascribed the area’s acceptance of the campus mostly to the passage of time. “I think that as we’ve gone along people have taken into consideration that these veterans served our country, and we need to do right by them,” he said. In the common perception of permanent supportive housing, shaped in no small part by the term itself, tenants stay for good. In practice, and contrary to the criticism that such housing amounts to “veteran welfare,” the Commons staff encourages residents to reintegrate into their communities and families as their recovery evolves. “The goal is for them to reach independence,” Haycook said. “It isn’t something that’s forced. But we want them to eventually live in the community again without the need for the intensive services we give them here.”
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