Dec 14, 2013 5 min read

They stepped up and served their country.

Now, it’s time to return the favor.

Nearly 60,000 of the nation’s 21.2 million veterans are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

And more than 250 members of that at-risk population are living right here in Washington and Greene counties.

Paul Nemenz and Keith Lester are among them.

Nemenz was introduced to readers in April, when the Observer-Reporter launched its yearlong No Place To Call Home series on homelessness in Washington and Greene counties. We followed up in August with a series of stories about homeless families, and in today’s third and final installment, the focus is on veterans.

Not much has changed for Nemenz in the months since we shared his story. He continues to make his home in the streets of Washington, finding shelter in doorways, alleys and bushes. On nights when the temperature dips into the single digits, he seeks shelter at the City Mission.

The atrocities he witnessed as a battlefield paramedic in Vietnam left emotional scars that have refused to heal. He won’t reveal what led to his homelessness, but his experiences helped chart a course of alcohol abuse and depression.

“Those of us who were not wounded physically were wounded mentally. A lot of us still carry those scars to this day,” he said in April. “There are a lot of men today, vets like myself, who are out there on the street. It’s like their country forgot about them.”

While Lester, who enlisted in the Navy after college, never saw combat, the former petty officer third class was assigned to a military medical center in Texas, where he worked as a licensed practical nurse before being honorably discharged.

After the recession hit in the early 1990s, Lester retrained as a chemistry lab technician. His hope of landing a good-paying job at one of the steel mills that lined the Ohio River was crushed with the downturn in the steel industry.

After holding various odd jobs and suffering a broken wrist that rendered him unable to work and pay his rent, Lester found himself facing homelessness. He eventually found refuge at Washington’s City Mission, where he now works in the kitchen as part of a program that employs older workers. The mission, he said, pays for his efficiency apartment in East Washington.

Lester has regrets, saying leaving the military was “probably the biggest mistake in my life.” He says he’s tried, unsuccessfully, to access benefits through the Veterans Administration.

With Lester in mind, we set out to find out what assistance is available to veterans who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes.

What we learned is that few services are available in Washington and Greene counties aimed specifically toward helping homeless veterans. Instead, they are referred to the Department of Veterans Affairs in Pittsburgh or Clarksburg, W.Va., or the nonprofit Veterans Leadership Program in the South Side of Pittsburgh, which operates housing and employment programs in 18 counties in Western Pennsylvania. Washington and Greene currently are not among them. However, the program is looking to expand into Washington and Greene.

We found that some help is available at the grass-roots level, through local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts. Tom Boyd, second vice commander of the James Farrell American Legion Post in Waynesburg, said his organization and other Legion and VFW posts will give a veteran money for food if he or she shows up and asks.

“But we have to tell that veteran we don’t have any shelter,” he said.

Shelters for homeless veterans do exist: One is in Moon Township, Allegheny County, and another is in Erie. Several more are on the other side of Pennsylvania, including three in Lancaster County, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. The homes are operated by various organizations and are underwritten, in part, by government subsidies as well as through donations of money and materials from members of the host communities. The homes are intended to offer transitional stability and support to help homeless veterans secure permanent housing and a comfortable financial future.

Veteran’s Place in Ephrata can accommodate five veterans; Veterans Victory House has 17 beds; and Beacon House in Akron sleeps eight. Interestingly, they are within 21 miles of each other. The programs have helped more than 550 veterans.

Greene County Commissioner Archie Trader said a partial solution could be in the works for veterans here.

“The county’s redevelopment authority is buying up properties that have remained unsold through sheriff and judicial sales. The idea is to rehabilitate them and get them back on the tax rolls,” he said.

Perhaps, he said, one of those houses could be used as a shelter for veterans, Trader said.

That goal is shared by Dalene Watson, Greene County’s director of veterans affairs.

“I would like to see a place where veterans are taking care of each other,” she said. “They are a proud bunch.”

The Observer-Reporter has established the “No Place To Call Home” funds through the community foundations in Washington and Greene counties. Donations may be made by visiting the Washington County Community Foundation’s website at wccf.net and clicking on “For Donors,” then “List of Funds” and “No Place To Call Home: Homeless Fund.” In Greene County, visit the Community Foundation of Greene County’s website at cfgcpa.org, click on “Donors,” then “How to Give,” “Donate Now,” and select “No Place To Call Home: Homeless Fund.”

Applications are being sought from agencies that provide services to the homeless, and grants will be awarded early next year.