Homeless Veterans Get Some Much Needed Help

Homeless Veteran Stand Down event in Biloxi

Mississippi’s homeless veteran population is a large and oftentimes overlooked group. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports on one event on the Gulf Coast that aims to help out some of those in greatest need.

The line at the registration table for the 2009 Homeless Veterans Stand Down event Biloxi in snaked a quarter of a mile down the road by 9am yesterday morning, as hundreds of homeless veterans and individuals waited to take advantage of dozens of free services. Sam Tucker is the Stand Down chairperson,

“They are getting housing referrals and you have the different medical treatments, whether it be flu shots or any other medical screening that are available, there are haircuts, we have showers available for them.”

Homeless Veteran Stand Down events occur nationwide each year, and began in 1988 by a concerned group of Vietnam veterans who saw a growing number of homeless vets in need. This year’s event in Biloxi was aimed at veterans, but that didn’t stop hundreds of other homeless individuals from showing up and none were turned away. Just across from the dental screening tent, Jack Finch is waiting in line to get his haircut,

“I’m getting a lot of thing done, a haircut, a got a shower and shave. I am supposed to be getting blankets. I’ve been in a tent for nine months so this is going to help.”

Stephen Dummer is president of the Harrison County Young Lawyers Association, a United States Marine Corps veteran himself he came to the event to offer free legal services,

“It is one of the untold shames of our country that we do not take care of those who serve and put their life on the line to protect our very freedoms. These are the people that we live with and drive by everyday and we don’t even know that they are here.”

The National Alliance to end homelessness estimates that there are more than 130,000 homeless veterans across the United States. One out of every five homeless individuals in the country is a veteran.