VA Watchdog Stuff
cups, hats, shirts
click here to
support the site





Be sure to get all five
VA Watchdog dot Org
RSS feeds --
Daily VA
News Flashes
House CVA
Veterans' News
Senate CVA
Veterans' News
VA Press
Releases
VSO Press
Releases

Download your
free copy of the
2007 VA benefits
handbook here...

Printer-Friendly Version

SKYROCKETING COSTS THREATEN VETERANS'

HOUSING IN NEW YORK -- "I get many calls per

day. But, I have no place to put them."

Story here... http://www.newsday.com/news/lo
cal/newyork/ny-nydiar065527769jan06,0,5666110.story

Story below:

-------------------------

Skyrocketing costs threaten veterans' housing

MERLE ENGLISH

For Ron Robinson, this dinner was a piece of cake.

The former U.S. Army staff sergeant was used to cooking for hundreds as a mess steward. So one 20-pound turkey, whipped potatoes and cornbread stuffing for six was no problem. He laid out each component in the dining area of the two-family house in Jamaica.

The gathering was small, but the help rendered by dinners like this was huge. It was part of the family-style living provided by Fitzgerald House.

The nonprofit organization creates housing for homeless male veterans, helping them back on their feet when they need it. In all, 85 men are housed at seven homes in Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island. But skyrocketing costs and a small funding base are threatening that mission, said Carol Gardener, the founder and executive director.

Inspired by her grandmother, who raised 13 children of her own and took in other people as well, Gardener, 51, a Jamaican immigrant, left the corporate world in 2005 to establish Fitzgerald House with two partners.

Nine years earlier, she said a brother had returned from the U.S. Navy unskilled, and only after he got help and therapy did he begin to lead a productive life, she said.

Drawing on her 401(k) savings, she bought three homes, leased four and furnished them. Each has a TV and a computer. "I also provide linen, kitchen utensils, a microwave and telephone," she said. "They find their own food."

Two men share a bedroom. Each pays $400 per month - about half of their veteran's benefit. Gardener pays for the utilities but can't keep up with rising expenses.

"It costs about $25,000 to set up each house," she said. "I'm getting calls from landlords telling me they're going to raise the rents [for the leased properties]. "I went to every politician in the ZIP codes of the houses asking for help. Not a dime. I was going to close all the doors in August."

"I had a good savings put away, but it's dwindling," she added. "I've actually been talking about going to work part-time."

Gardener is awaiting word on an application for the daily $33 allowance the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs allocates to nonprofit service providers for each veteran housed. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Far Rockaway) has sent a letter on her behalf. The congressman "applauds her for the service she provides to the community," said Meeks spokeswoman Candace Sandy, adding that he is reaching out to the mayor's office on her behalf.

Gardener runs Fitzgerald House from her home in Brentwood. Her clients range in age from 28 to 79. They served in the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I have a doctor who practiced in some of the most prestigious hospitals in the country; I have a CPA, an attorney; a Wall Street stockbroker who was making $3 million a year; a few teachers. Homeless! Homeless!" she said.

Robinson, a widower, was a Forest Hills contractor who retired to Virginia but returned to New York to get in on the building boom. He went broke. Kenneth Simmons, 35, a former staff sergeant in Afghanistan, had skills in nuclear biology and aviation mechanics, but could not find steady work after his military discharge and became homeless. He is now a dog handler.

Simmons said Fitzgerald House "is wonderful for vets that want to get on their feet, but she's stretched thin."

Gardener said she wants to help more veterans.

"I get many calls per day," she said. "But I have no place to put them."

-------------------------

posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

Don't forget to read all of today's VA News Flashes (click here)

Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage

email Larry

(go back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page)

VA Watchdog Stuff
cups, hats, shirts
click here to
support the site