thedrifter
07-30-07, 07:41 AM
Veterans in danger of losing shelter
By SUSAN ELAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 30, 2007)
PEEKSKILL - Veterans regularly make up about a third of the residents at the 19-bed Jan Peek House homeless shelter in Peekskill.
The figure is consistent with federal data showing 33 percent of all homeless men in America are veterans.
Now the veterans and other men and women who live at Jan Peek risk losing their shelter on the banks of the Hudson River to Peekskill's waterfront redevelopment plan.
Jan Peek's Executive Director Jeanne Blum said no new location has been secured for the two-decades-old shelter. Blum is renewing an appeal made several years ago to the VA Hudson Valley Healthcare System in Montrose to include space for Jan Peek in its campus overhaul.
"I would like the VA to know that we are a viable resource for veterans," Blum said. "Historically, Jan Peek has housed and employed a lot of vets. There is so much space on the campus. It would be a perfect location to house Jan Peek."
Three homeless veterans now living at Jan Peek say the shelter's proximity to the VA hospital in Montrose has enabled them to continue to receive medical and other treatment. But rebuilding their lives will require permanent, affordable housing, the veterans said.
"My big dream is to have a place of my own so my children can send the grandchildren up for the weekend," said Clarence Powell, 49, who served with the Marines from 1975 to 1978.
The father of four and grandfather of three has lived at Jan Peek since leaving a program for homeless veterans at Montrose in February in a dispute over his finances. Participants are required to save their earnings to pay for housing after completion of the program. Powell said he spent some of his savings on Christmas toys and back child-support payments that had mounted to $20,000 during his nearly 17-year incarceration for a drug-related robbery.
Powell begins a maintenance job at the Montrose VA this month while he continues therapy sessions and support groups there as an outpatient.
"Supportive housing would be a plus for me because I could make my child-support payments and have a roof over my head," said Powell. "It's a big dream, but it is reachable."
An abscessed tooth landed Joseph Schooff, 52, at Jan Peek. Schooff served with the 82nd Army Airborne from 1969 to 1974 and never got a scratch. But a fall from a building where he was installing a heating and air conditioning unit left him dependent on a $960 a month Social Security disability check. The Peekskill resident managed to cover his rent and other modest expenses until about six weeks ago when he went to the VA seeking dental care for an inflamed gum.
"Montrose took my disability check for the dental work and I lost my apartment because I couldn't pay the rent," said Schooff. "I've worked since I was 16. I've never been in a shelter. It's embarrassing."
Guillermo Ortiz, 51, served with the Marines in Vietnam between 1974 and 1975. Many of the years since that time have been lost in the haze of drug addiction, said Ortiz, who served 10 years in prison for robbery.
In February, he was released to the VA in Montrose where, he said, he learned the tools to live without drugs. Ortiz attends daily group sessions at Montrose while living at Jan Peek.
His focus for now, he said, is fixed on remaining drug free. Having a place of his own still seems like a far-off dream.
"If supportive housing comes, I would be grateful," he said. "For now, I thank Jan Peek for accepting me."
Reach Susan Elan at selan@lohud.com or 845-228-2277.
Ellie
By SUSAN ELAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 30, 2007)
PEEKSKILL - Veterans regularly make up about a third of the residents at the 19-bed Jan Peek House homeless shelter in Peekskill.
The figure is consistent with federal data showing 33 percent of all homeless men in America are veterans.
Now the veterans and other men and women who live at Jan Peek risk losing their shelter on the banks of the Hudson River to Peekskill's waterfront redevelopment plan.
Jan Peek's Executive Director Jeanne Blum said no new location has been secured for the two-decades-old shelter. Blum is renewing an appeal made several years ago to the VA Hudson Valley Healthcare System in Montrose to include space for Jan Peek in its campus overhaul.
"I would like the VA to know that we are a viable resource for veterans," Blum said. "Historically, Jan Peek has housed and employed a lot of vets. There is so much space on the campus. It would be a perfect location to house Jan Peek."
Three homeless veterans now living at Jan Peek say the shelter's proximity to the VA hospital in Montrose has enabled them to continue to receive medical and other treatment. But rebuilding their lives will require permanent, affordable housing, the veterans said.
"My big dream is to have a place of my own so my children can send the grandchildren up for the weekend," said Clarence Powell, 49, who served with the Marines from 1975 to 1978.
The father of four and grandfather of three has lived at Jan Peek since leaving a program for homeless veterans at Montrose in February in a dispute over his finances. Participants are required to save their earnings to pay for housing after completion of the program. Powell said he spent some of his savings on Christmas toys and back child-support payments that had mounted to $20,000 during his nearly 17-year incarceration for a drug-related robbery.
Powell begins a maintenance job at the Montrose VA this month while he continues therapy sessions and support groups there as an outpatient.
"Supportive housing would be a plus for me because I could make my child-support payments and have a roof over my head," said Powell. "It's a big dream, but it is reachable."
An abscessed tooth landed Joseph Schooff, 52, at Jan Peek. Schooff served with the 82nd Army Airborne from 1969 to 1974 and never got a scratch. But a fall from a building where he was installing a heating and air conditioning unit left him dependent on a $960 a month Social Security disability check. The Peekskill resident managed to cover his rent and other modest expenses until about six weeks ago when he went to the VA seeking dental care for an inflamed gum.
"Montrose took my disability check for the dental work and I lost my apartment because I couldn't pay the rent," said Schooff. "I've worked since I was 16. I've never been in a shelter. It's embarrassing."
Guillermo Ortiz, 51, served with the Marines in Vietnam between 1974 and 1975. Many of the years since that time have been lost in the haze of drug addiction, said Ortiz, who served 10 years in prison for robbery.
In February, he was released to the VA in Montrose where, he said, he learned the tools to live without drugs. Ortiz attends daily group sessions at Montrose while living at Jan Peek.
His focus for now, he said, is fixed on remaining drug free. Having a place of his own still seems like a far-off dream.
"If supportive housing comes, I would be grateful," he said. "For now, I thank Jan Peek for accepting me."
Reach Susan Elan at selan@lohud.com or 845-228-2277.
Ellie