Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer
Military veterans dealing with joblessness, hunger, substance abuse and even homelessness have a place to which they can turn in Long Beach. It’s the U.S. Vets center, which is located at the Villages at Cabrillo Housing.
“Our mission is to provide assistance to any struggling veterans. We are here to help them in any way we can,” said Greg McCormack, site director for the U.S. Vets facility in Long Beach. He explained that the help comes in the form of housing, employment assistance, case management and counseling that helps the men and women deal with issues that are plaguing them.
U.S. Vets, a nonprofit organization, was founded 18 years ago in Inglewood, and it has operated the facility in Villages at Cabrillo for about 12 years. The organization maintains 12 similar centers across the United States.
“We provide programs to veterans who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness,” McCormack noted. “The programs are at no cost to them and fully supported by our organization.”
He explained that U.S. Vets gives struggling veterans a free place to live in dormitory housing, meals, clothing, and other forms of assistance to help them get back on their feet. “Once a veteran goes through our program and establishes an income either by work or veterans benefits or disability income, then they have the opportunity to stay here at Villages at Cabrillo,” McCormack said. “They would continue to live here but on their own by renting a room in our transitional and supportive housing.” That usually means having their own bedroom in a house shared with other vets.
According to McCormack, one of the requirements for staying in the transitional housing is that the vets maintain a clean and sober lifestyle. “That requirement really helps those vets who want to stay away from drug and/or alcohol abuse but are having a hard time doing that on their own,” he said, explaining that staying drug- and alcohol-free for a long period of time is key to stabilizing the vets so that later they won’t be drawn back into a self-destructive lifestyle.
Many veterans come to U.S. Vets with nothing but backpacks on their backs. “They have exhausted all their resources and are ready to make a change,” McCormack said. “We can get them right into stable housing, and that alone is a major step toward overcoming obstacles and achieving goals.”
McCormack explained that the U.S. Vets assistance is available to veterans who are homeless or at risk for being homeless. The organization has two specialized entry programs for vets when they are first accepted into the facility.
“We have a work re-entry program called Veterans in Progress, or VIP. It’s for male veterans who want to go back to work,” McCormack said. “Every year, we put close to a hundred veterans back into full-time employment through that program.”
He explained that VIP staff look at a veterans’ work history and skill sets, and then they map out a strategy that will make them employable. Sometimes that includes enrolling them in a vocational school. According to McCormack, the VIP program gives up to 75 men a place to live during their job training.
“U.S. Vets also has the Advanced Women’s Program for female veterans. It is one of the largest programs for homeless female veterans in the country,” McCormack said. He explained that the program provides housing and other assistance to 30 women who move into other U.S. Vets programs after they become more stable.
Another program is called the Social Independent Living Skills (SILS) program. It provides guidance and assistance to disabled veterans. “We have 32 beds available in SILS, and it’s primarily for older, disabled veterans who have a pension or disability income but have great difficulty establishing consistent housing,” McCormack said, adding that after a transitional period, U.S. Vets helps them get into affordable housing.
McCormack noted that another program started about three years ago aims at helping younger veterans whose issues and barriers are different than those of older veterans. “We opened the program specifically for the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who have symptoms of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder],” McCormack said. “We currently have about 20 veterans in that program, but we believe we are going to be seeing an increasing need to help vets with those symptoms in the coming years.”
The Long Beach U.S Vets center is located at 2001 River Ave. For more information, go to usvetsinc.org or call (562) 388-7800.
In the upcoming weeks, the Signal Tribune will be running a series of articles detailing some of the local U.S. Vets programs.
