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DISABLED VIETNAM VET FORCED TO MOVE FROM
LONG-
TIME HOME IN PARKING LOT -- He's living on borrowed
property in a travel trailer on blocks that sits on
the
motel lot about to be reclaimed.
Jim Ives by his trailer.
You MUST view the video at the link below.
Story here...
http://abclocal.go.com/
ktrk/story?section=local&id=5433304
Story below:
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Homeless veteran is being forced to pick up and
move
Abandoned motel he calls home is being
demolished
KTRK By Deborah Wrigley
It's been his home for years, but now a man who lives in the parking lot
of a local motel is being forced to pack up and move.
Those who work with the homeless place the number of veterans who live
on the streets in the Houston area at about 5,000.
Years ago, it was just another motel on I-10 East. Now it's a dumping
ground, abandoned and about to be demolished, but one person has been
overlooked in all the progress.
Jim Ives, 67, is a Vietnam veteran and lives on the little money he
makes by sharpening knives at a neighboring truck stop.
"It may not be much, but it's honest," said Ives.
He is that, but it doesn't change the fact he's living on borrowed
property in a travel trailer on blocks that sits on the motel lot about
to be reclaimed.
"I'd like a little better, but I've gotten by on so little for so long
that I'm used to it," he said.
He's used to a lot. He lives with the pain of losing his wife to an
accident, the pain of losing a leg to diabetes and now the possibility
of losing what home he has and even the two dogs who are now his family.
Yet Jim Ives has people who care about him. One is a county deputy.
"We're at the point where he doesn't need to be here, he really doesn't,
he deserves better," said Deputy Gary Worley of the Harris County
Sheriff's Office.
US Vets operates housing for homeless veterans in Houston. The facility
on Main Street is about to be updated and expanded, yet the need
outpaces all the resources. There are thousands of Jim Ives out there,
mostly Vietnam veterans, but those from Iraq are starting to apply for
help.
A lot of need out there, and in his way, Jim Ives would like to help
meet it. Except he needs some help now and for the first time he's
willing to admit it.
Mr. Ives is hoping to move his trailer so he can continue sharpening
knives to support himself and his dogs.
US Vets outreach workers visited him and plan to take him to the VA
Hospital for medical tests. His dogs will also go in for vaccinations,
courtesy of Citizens for Animal Protection. Ives will also be offered
help in applying for veteran benefits. His future isn't ideal, but it's
better than the present.
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Larry Scott --
