August 30, 2024 • 28 mins
In this episode of On the Road with Paul Ward, Paul sits down with Angel Echeverria from The Vince Street Veterans House to discuss the vital work being done to support military veterans in need of temporary housing. Established in 2016, the Vince Street Veterans House serves male veterans, providing them with a safe, supportive environment while they transition to permanent housing. Angel delves into the house's capacity, the personalized approach they take with each veteran, and how they maintain harmony among residents. The conversation also covers the various forms of support the veterans receive, from job assistance to managing PTSD, as well as the role of organizations like the VA and The American Legion in funding these efforts. Angel shares inspiring success stories, and we hear from a current resident who is finding a new beginning at the house. The episode concludes with insights into the daily life of the veterans, upcoming programs, and how people can connect with The Vince Street Veterans House to get involved or seek help.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
0:00 Welcome to On the Road with Paul Ward and our special guest, Angel Echeverria with The Vince Street Veterans House
0:32 We learn what The Vince Street Veteran’s House is and it’s mission to help military veterans
1:01 Established in 2016, Angel Echeverria tells us who the Transitional House serves and that they house male veterans who need temporary housing
1:26 Learn how many veterans can be housed at a time
1:54 The veterans seeking help are looked at on a case-by-case basis
2:26 Vince Street Veterans House has a slogan: One vet at a time
2:34 How the veterans are assisted within the house and how harmony is maintained amongst them
5:31 Angel tells us what happens if the time limit of a veteran’s stay is reached, what employment looks like for the veterans and if PTSD plays a part in their transition out of the house
8:22 Statistics on the national suicide rate for veterans
10:22 Angel shares a success story of a teacher that ended up at The Vince Street Vet House
11:13 A day in the life of a veteran in house and special events that are hosted
13:33 Being completely clean and sober is not necessary to live in the house, but the veterans are prohibited from partaking in their activities in the house
14:56 The origins of The Vince Street House and it is part of The Turning Point Foundation
16:46 Financial support for the Vet House is provided by the VA (Veterans Affairs), The American Legion, Food Share and other organizations
17:45 Examples of other programs The Vince Vet House is working to implement to help veterans while in the program and after their stay in the housing
20:33 Richard Eskin, a veteran at the house, shares his story with Paul
24:33 Angel Echeverria is back in the interview seat and tells us about other activities that are happening in surrounding areas in Ventura, CA
25:41 Veterans have benefits that help provide income for each of them
26:42 How to get in touch with The Vince Vet House and The Turning Point Foundation
27:41 Surprisingly, most of the residents at the house are from places outside of California
28:19 A special thank you to our sponsor: Opus Escrow
Related Episodes: Breaking Barriers: Inside the Wellness Center Growth Beyond Challenges: Cultivating Wellness at Growing Works
Contact The Vince Street Vet House: turningpointfoundation.org 1736 S Lewis Rd, Camarillo, Ca 93012 (805) 586-9900
Contact Paul Ward: 805-479-5004 paul@homeandranchteam.com
Have ideas for future episodes? We'd love to answer your questions - leave a comment! For any home buying or home selling needs in the Ventura County area of California, please reach out to Paul@HomeAndRanc
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Hi friends, it's Paul Ward here, andwelcome to On the Road. I'm very excited.
Today we are in Ventura,California, and as you know,
our veterans need helpAny way they can get it.
They're the folks that keep us safeand make America the place that it is.
And who better to talk aboutthat than our guest today?
Angel Echeverria with theVince Street Vet House in
(00:27):
Ventura. Welcome to On the Road.
Thank you very much Paul.
Absolutely. So, what is this place?
So this place is a transitionalhousing facility, like you mentioned,
for homeless veterans than need a placeto go to get their affairs in order
after either they left the military orthey've been out of the military for a
number of years,
and they need a place to go and get thingstogether so that they can go back out
(00:50):
there again and continue being productivemembers in society after they go
through a hard time of their lives.
Tell us about Vince Street Vet House.
How long has it been hereand who does it serve?
So, Vet House has been hereroughly since the mid of 2016.
And it's a program for veterans.It's an all-male facility.
(01:10):
We help take veterans off the streets,and not necessarily just off the streets,
just people who are veterans thatare homeless and need a place to stay
temporarily. This isa good place for them,
and we help them findhousing while they're here.
How many folks can it serve at one time?
We have 10 rooms.
Five of those rooms are one-bed rooms andfive are two-bed rooms. So, 15 in all.
(01:33):
Right now, we have a full house.We have all 15 beds filled up. But,
in most months of the year,we usually have a full house;
completely every bed filled up.
It's very rare that we have anythingless than 13 or 14 clients here at one
time. Gotcha.
Gotcha.
I would imagine you've got a list a milelong of people that are trying to stay
here.
(01:54):
We look at each client, you know,
when we take his needson a case-by-case basis.
No two veteran's needsare alike. And, you know,
some of them may have medicalneeds, mental health needs.
They all have housing needs, obviously,otherwise that wouldn't be here.
But they have other issuesto deal with as well. So,
we do our best to address each oneof those leads and identify what
obstacles I've been keeping them frombeing able to continue being out there in
(02:18):
the world. And being at peace, first,with themselves and also around them.
And you have a slogan thatkind of fits to that. Yes.
It's, "One veteran at a time.".
One veteran at a time. For the luckyfew that are chosen to live here,
what is life like at theVince Street Vet House?
So, we do our best to provide a verysafe and walkaway environment here.
We provide lunch and dinner,
(02:40):
and they cook their own breakfast andthey're able to stay here, you know,
24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We also provide all sorts of wholeplethora of programs that they may need,
for example, substance abuse programs,
if they need to get connected with NAmeetings or AA meetings or mental health,
you know counselors or medical issuesthat they may have going on that we might
(03:04):
need to get them connected with.It could be a number of things.
And what is that like for folks that arehaving those mental health challenges
living in such close proximity to eachother? I would imagine there's some
challenges as you,
as the program manager have to dealwith on a daily basis to keep everybody
(03:24):
kinda living in, I guess, harmony?
Yes.
We have federations in the past sometimeswhere we've had to ask some veterans
to leave because they're unable toget a lot well with other veterans.
But those are, those are veryrare instances. Like I said, we,
we sit down with them and go through ascreening and vetting process to make
sure there's a good fit for them.
part of the require for you to be hereis that you have to be actively engaged
(03:44):
with case management.
We assign a case manager to work withyou and to identify your needs, you know,
and, and what we can do to addressthose needs. So like I said before,
any client can have a, a number of issuesthat they're dealing with at one time.
So we do an in individualizedtreatment plan and see what that client
specifically needs. And then we, we,
we work with our liaison with thecommittee partners with other counselors
(04:08):
in the area to try and addressthose needs that they need.
And what, I mean, those needs are many,
I assume there's future housing 'causethey, they can't stay here forever.
Right, exactly. And mental healthchallenges, health, maybe employment,
I mean all, all, all encompassing.
Absolutely. So this is a six monthprogram. So clients that come here,
they can stay up here for up to sixmonths as long as they're actively engaged
(04:30):
with their case managerlooking for housing.
And sometimes if wegive people extensions,
if we see that they really aretrying their best to get housed,
but because of the insurermarket crisis in the area,
it's not so easy to get this guest housed.Right. And we, many of these clients,
they qualify for a HUD vash. We justkinda like section eight for veterans.
Okay. But a lot of landlords,
even though they're notallowed to discriminate anymore against people with ary
(04:53):
vouchers, they find other waysto discriminate against them.
For example checking their creditscore or their rental history.
And some of these guys don't really havea whole lot of rental history. Right.
Or, or the, the bestcredit score. You know,
we get some guys that have never beenhoused their own apartment in their whole
lives. , you know, we got,
we got some guys here straightfrom correctional facilities.
Some people come here off the streets,
(05:15):
some people come from ahospitalizations for different reasons.
So sometimes it's not soeasy to get them housed,
even if you out are ableto get them a voucher.
So what happens if thesix month mark, I mean,
you don't just kick themback outta the street,
you're actively looking to Yeah.
No, we, we sit down with themand, you know, and we see,
try and find out what it is that's goingon. and for example, if they have a a,
(05:38):
a low credit score, we try andfind ways to bring that up.
Or we try and find housingfor them somewhere in la because even though we wanna
be able to find housing here in Ventura,
there's more availability of housingplaces somewhere else outside of Ventura
County. Like la justlast year we've housed,
I believe it was five orsix veterans in LA Okay.
In the project based housingbuilding that opened up over there,
(05:58):
actually specifically for just forveterans Semi Valley. So that was,
that was really nice.
Interesting. And thenin terms of employment,
I would imagine you look at what theirstrengths and weaknesses are and what
they like to do. And what kind of jobsare they, are they finding out there?
Many of them are work in, some ofthem go to work in construction.
So they go to work in supermarkets.
A lot of the veterans that we have herethough mostly are in their sixties,
(06:19):
and in that area, so many ofthem are either disabled or retired.
We have some younger guys that,that come to the vet house.
But for the most part, some of the guysthat come here, they just really need a,
a place to, to stay like for housing.
And would you say, as veterans, are you,
are you finding that many of them havePTSD from their deployments overseas
or.
(06:39):
Yes. Well, some of the guys that we havehere, they've been outta the military,
some of 'em a few months, someof them a few decades. You know,
some of the guys that are here, they werein the military, the Air Force, Navy,
whatever branch they were in, you know,
in their twenties and now they'rein their mid fifties or sixties.
So many of them do have mental healthissues like PTSD, anxiety disorders,
(07:00):
you know, depression that they neverreally sought the health for. ,
especially some of the older generations.
It was very much frowned uponto even say, you know, I,
I think I don't feel goodor I, I I'm depressed.
Or because you were looked at us beingweak. you virtually, that was a culture,
a lot of it back in the military backby a few decades ago that was changed. ,
which I'm glad about. Imyself am ave a veteran.
(07:22):
I was actually outside up by here inVentura. . I grew up in North Carolina,
but I joined the Navy and I was stationedout here in Port Rimi for four years,
from oh seven till 2011. AndI was able to see, you know,
with my fellow shipmates as we call it,
the navy or fellow sailors when they weredeployed or when they would come back,
there would be a stark difference,really. Their demeanor. Interesting.
You know, some of them walkingalong with the wall with their,
(07:44):
the backing against the wall, just verydifferent. . And I'm really glad that,
that the military now has now takeunderstood that the importance of having
mental health services forthose individuals during.
During deployment. Yes.
During, during deploymentand after deployment,
they go back to the base and not justafter you military, but also after,
after you're out of, of the, of themilitary. completely, you know. . Some,
(08:05):
some of those guys, theyneed those services for the rest of their lives. Yeah.
I would imagine that that would've beenso challenging to not have any services.
And then on top of that,
there's the stigma about mentalhealth if you even did need service.
So it just makes sense that so manyended up homeless and where they did.
Exactly. And unfortunately,you know there,
(08:27):
there's about 22 veterans that commitsuicide every day. Really? You think.
About it throughout the.
Country. Throughout the country.Wow. When you say in the nation.
And if you think about that,that's about one roughly per hour,
about one every six, five minutes. Wow.You know, so you can see there the,
the reason why there's such a strongneed for people have access to you know,
professionals, you know,counselors, psychiatrists, you know,
(08:48):
psychologists people thatare available there for them.
And for our job is in many ways toencourage them, you know, to hey, it's,
doesn't mean that you'reweak or, or unless you're,
doesn't make list of a person Right.To seek help, you know? Right.
Everybody needs help every now and then.
Right. And I would imagine that, I mean,
even though everybody thatlives here has their own issues,
it's probably nice knowing that, you know,
(09:10):
I'm not the only one feeling thisor going through this experience,
and there's other people that are kindof in the same boat that I am. So.
Absolutely. You know, that's what we dohere. We, we try and let 'em know, Hey,
you guys are all here for the samereason, which is really to get housed.
Maybe they may have differentneeds, but you know,
we're all here in this together and wedo everything that we can to support you,
(09:31):
you know, whether we can where they'regonna criticize you or judge you.
And also all of the guys that,
that are here they were had actuallyvery successful jobs. You know,
not only having homeless theirwhole lives or anything like that.
just last year I had a guy here thatwas a high school teacher, you know,
really just Yes, absolutely. A fewmonths ago I had a guy that was,
had a master's in socialwork just like me. ,
(09:52):
he's a licensed clinical socialworker. He went through a divorce.
So a lot of times they gothrough traumatic events. Right.
the loss of a job death of achild, you know, divorce. They,
you know,
there's a number of reasons where they'regonna end up in a place like this. So.
For the teacher, just to kind ofgo back, walk us through that.
So he's a successful teacher. He'smaking a decent salary. He is got a,
(10:15):
you know, his future teacher pensionlined up. He is got mental dental vision.
And then.
So unfortunately for thatparticular individual, he,
when he was in his younger years,he did some drugs, I forget,
I dunno what his drug of choice was, buthe ended up relapsing. Unfortunately,
he ended up getting into it really bad.Ended up losing his house, his spouse,
(10:38):
his job, everything. And, you know, hecame to us basically with nothing. Say,
Hey, I'm unemployed homeless, I'm broke.
And we were able to provide asafe place for him to stay at.
And so he was able to get his, his feet,his affairs in order, so to speak. .
And he's actually working as high schoolteacher now. Oh, really? Absolutely.
Oh, that's great.
Yeah.
That's just one successstory. We have multiple.
(10:58):
That's, that's awesome. So what woulda typical day look like here at the,
at the house? I mean, you've got15 guys living under the same roof.
I imagine they don't have a, youknow, a cook, a chef. I mean, they're,
are they cooking forthemselves? How does that work?
So we actually have our teamhere from, from eight to four.
is myself the programmanager, and the case manager.
(11:19):
and their admin assistant slash cooking.Oh, really? So he actually Oh, wow.
Cook them lunch and dinner. Okay.
the only thing that they have to do forthemselves is cook their own breakfast
or they can get some p and j sandwichesthat are cooked prepared for them.
Right. Or some cereal. And manyof you guys do enjoy cooking. ,
they haven't had access to cookingfacilities, you know, a long time.
(11:39):
, you know,
if you're living under a bridge orin your car for the past few years,
or in motels, you know,when you can afford one,
it's nice to have a place where you cango and, and use a stove and, and cook.
Right. I mean, the guysactually, it's really nice.
They actually even want to help our cookor they want to have their own special
recipe. Right. And I encourage them, Hey,if you guys wanna cook something for,
for your fellow veterans,you're more than welcome to.
(12:00):
I I go and buy whateveringredients they need or want. And,
and I bring that to them and theycook for the other guys. So when they,
so they guys have stepped up andthink, like, things like that. So.
That's awesome.
So special, special events, specialoccasions you here at the house?
Yes.
For Thanksgiving just like last year wehad the National Health Foundation that
came by and they brought some foodfor the guys from Golden Corral.
(12:21):
The year for that. Our, ourcook David, he cooked them nice,
nice turkeys for them with somesides. And, and also for Christmas,
you know, we pass that Christmaskiss and for the Christmas tree.
And it's just great to see the happinessfrom of these guys when they approach
me. Like, you know what, I,
I don't remember last time I had aChristmas where I was at home where I felt
like I was at home, you know, withpeople that cared about me since I was,
(12:42):
you know, so it's just, I used to withmy parents. Right. That type of thing.
Right. It's just a great feeling. Yeah.
To, I mean, loneliness is a hugeproblem in itself, so Absolutely.
The fact that you're around other peoplethat care about you in the same boat
makes it all the better.
And, and sometimes, like goingback to what I said before,
people would tend to self-isolate whenthey have some type of mental health
(13:03):
issues going on. because for help. Sothey tend to self-isolatelook for help.
So they tend to self isolateor even self-medicate. And,
and that's when you see alot of gas coming in here.
You deal with some typeof substance abuse issue,
whether that's alcohol or meth or, oranything that may be out there right now.
And how do you, how do you deal withthat? I mean, there's, they're not cured.
I mean, there's still addicts in away. They probably have their cravings.
(13:27):
Right. And now they're living here withother guys under the same roof. What,
what, what happens if you gottahave a guy on meth, let's just say?
So, Our main goal here is to helpthese guys get housed. That, that's,
that's what our, our focus is on. So,
you don't have to be completelyclean or sober to, to live here.
What I do is I ask the guys,
if you're gonna be engagedin those type of activities,
(13:48):
just don't do it here at the vethouse. You know, go to the beach,
go somewhere else. Just don't doit here. Right. Because that's,
we don't allow drugs or alcoholor drug peripherally here. Right.
And I'm very fortunate that most of theguys understand that and they respect
that they don't want to jeopardizeour housing. Right. And so they,
they don't engage thoseactivities here. I've had,
I've had had a few wishes in the pastwhere some guys have come home acting
belligerent, you know, and disrespectfulto other veterans and staff.
(14:10):
And I sit down with them and Ikind of give them a warning. Like,
you can't be doing that here. Youknow, that's unacceptable. Right.
part of what you ize housing, we'renever gonna make anyone else feel unsafe.
. And so, and most of the timethey understand that. Right.
We do have something also called asafe room. So basically what that is,
is a room where we take clientsto that are either intoxicated or,
(14:32):
or high and or something,
and they go in a safe room andthey kind of just sit there or,
or stay there until they can sleep itoff. before they go into their row.
Interesting. But I, I'm very fortunatethat I don't deal with that too often.
here. Well, that's.
That's good. Yeah. How did, how didthe Vince Street Vet House come to be?
I mean, did somebodyhave a drive by and say,
this is a great placefor a vet house? Or what,
(14:53):
what was kind of theopportunity, do you know,
that kind of made this place what it is?
Well, there's a strong lead for,for veterans services in the area.
And Turning Pool is able toget connected with the va. So.
You're, this is Vin Street,
vet House is is under the umbrella ofthe Turning Point Foundation. Absolutely,
yes. And it's one of, I think 13or 14 different programs that Turn.
(15:13):
Has Yes. Yeah. We wereone of 14 programs. We,
we work with the otherfacilities too. For example,
the Mental Wellness Center in Oxford.. They have a mobile program. Yep.
We've been, we've been there.
That's run by the programmanager. His, his name is Tyler. .
And so he sends out to a peerspecialist every Wednesday morning.
So the fact they're, they're here ornot actually in the patio. Oh, they are.
(15:34):
And they do like workshopson mental health issues,
or not necessarily mental health.
Some of them can be on like nicotinecessation or medication management,
or high blood pressure management,know that type of thing.
Whatever services that the guys wannatalk about or whatever services they need.
Right. Whatever topics thatthey have in mind. Right. so.
So did, so did Turning Point then purchasethis house at some point? And how,
(15:56):
how long has, did Vince StreetBed House been here? So.
This has been here since 2016. I,myself have been here since 2021. Okay.
But yeah, turning Point did purchase it.
And we have a contract with theDepartment of Veterans Affairs.
They provide most of ourfunding for this program. .
And we also have other nonprofits in thearea and other organizations that give
us donations. Like for example, today wewould have the American Legion stop by.
(16:17):
Okay. At 1:00 PM they're gonna bringus a, a nice check for us. Right.
Which might we, we might've used tomaybe replace some of the appliances.
Maybe some of the furniture.Maybe some of the beds. ,
I even tell the guys when theyleave the facility, if they want to,
they can actually take the,
the bed that they sleep out here andthe profit and everything. I mean,
other do. Right. They take that with them.
And then I used themoney for donations too,
(16:38):
buy new beds and madecomfort for the guys.
And I just expanded our storagearea. We had just one freezer.
Now we have two freezers. Nice.
So that's through Veterans Affairsand then American Legion and other
organizations get donations.
Yes. We also work with food Share. Okay.Yep. Which is a program here, Ventura.
Yep.
And right now we're teamed up with twosupermarkets in the area where we go on,
(16:59):
we Thursdays one is sprouts, theother one is Martin and Final. Yep.
And they give us all the food that theycan't sell because it, they're about to,
it's still good. Right.But it's about to expire.
Maybe the bananas gotta blemish, butit's still perfectly fine. It's still.
Perfectly fine. Yeah. Or maybeit can be meats or, you know,
apples or a lot of times it's, it isbread too. Anything like that, you know.
(17:20):
Right. Eggs. so we can still use that.
And we bring in here andsometimes we get so much of it,
we actually give it to people outin the community that stop by.
Or we can even take in some of theother homeless shelters. or there's,
we can take into some other homelessencampments in the area. Nice.
So it doesn't go to waste.
So what, what other programs are you,
are you working on here that kindof expanding your opportunities
(17:43):
for, for folks that are,that are living here?
So, for example, there's anotherorganization called gold Coast Foundation.
We get a lot of our referralsfrom them. and, and the va.
And they do a lot of outreach and, andthey bring 'em to places like this.
We also do some outreach in our part. We,
we go out and pass out flyers you know,for anyone that wants to come here.
(18:06):
And sometimes we have people callingfrom hospitals or maybe social workers
from, from jails. saying, Hey,
I have this guy that's been here for thepast few years. He has nowhere to go.
Will we accept him? We'll do a quickscreening via Zoom. . And, and, and we,
we go with our policies here, the rules.And if he's okay with that, then okay.
We give him a chance. . And hopefullyeverything works out. Nice. Wish.
(18:28):
I'm happy to say that in mostcases it does work out. . And it's,
it was a great feeling when you see aguy come here and just leave with his key
to his own apartment, you know? Right.And he's so excited and grateful.
It is just a great feeling for us.
So he went, he got here, he was downin his luck, spend six months here,
and now he's, you know,hopefully on his way and.
(18:49):
Absolutely now he's housed.
Participating member of society.
Exactly. You know,
the ever bring that productive memberof society once again working, you know,
and, and give it back. , you know, a lotof the guys that that, that leave here,
actually the ones that get house nearby,they wanna come back here and say, Hey,
can I cook for the guys thisweekend? Angel, can I cook on Friday?
Can I cook next week? AndI'm like, yeah, of course.
You're more than happy to come back hereand cook for the guys, or, you know,
(19:10):
or just watch TV with the guys, watchfootball or whatnot, you know? Right. I,
I'm okay with that too. 'cause They needthat sense of camaraderie that they,
that they had when theywere in the military.
Maybe they haven't had thatin a long time. Right. And so.
That is, that is an interesting pointbecause when you're in the military or an
organization like that,that's so structured, you,
you have purpose and you know,you know what your role is. .
(19:31):
And then boom, it just like that, youknow, you're out. Yeah. And it's like,
it's over.
All that structure is gone. Exactly.
You have somebody to tell you what to doalmost 24 7, you know, what, where to,
where to sleep, where to work. It'sa structured environment, you know,
and a lot of guys, they get used to theenvironment. . So when they're out free,
they don't really know what to do withall these free level now that they have.
(19:51):
It's so, it's an adjustment process. Yeah.
A lot of guys here come withadjustment disorders lot and,
and they would do our best toget it connected to, you know,
a va mental healthcounselor in most cases,
or even some other counselors here inthe area that can help them, you know,
cope with that. . And, and get past that.
So we were talking to theprogram manager, angel Esca,
(20:14):
and he gave us an opportunity totalk to an actual resident here
at the Vince Street Vet House.
And so Richard Eskin has been kind enoughto talk to us about what life is like
here. Sure. Welcome to On theRoad. Thank you. Absolutely.
So how long have you been here, Richard?
About about three months.
Oh, wow. So just recent. Yeah. Yeah.And what's, what's life like here?
(20:40):
Life is structured. Life is, is good.
And you don't have to worry about anythingbecause everything is taken care of
you for you.
Nice. And obviously youwere in the military.
I was US Navy.
How long were you in?
12 Years.
Oh, wow. Well, thank you for your service.
Yeah. Thank you.
And if you don't mind us asking,
(21:00):
how did you end up from the Navy to here?
Well, I, I, I led a prettyconstructive life and
it, the last year orso, last six months, my,
I went downhill basically. AndI ended up, I lost my apartment.
I ended up here, and I'm tryingto get another place and,
(21:24):
and move on with my life. .
And so in terms of the structure,it's obviously housing for six months?
Yes. And they provide meals? .
And then you have activities that aregeared towards helping you with future
housing and future employment.Is that, that's the goal.
That is the goal, yes, sir.
Okay. And what, what do you liketo do in terms of employment?
(21:46):
What were you doing beforeand what do you hope to do?
Well, I was a salesperson,
a sales manager my whole life workingfor companies that manufacture goods.
And I was the sales person forthat company. And I, as I said,
I did that for 30 years.
Is that what you hope to getback into? Is, is sales again? I.
Don't think so. I'm 73.I, I want to retire.
(22:09):
with a part-time jobor something for sure.
Sure, sure. So in terms ofthe Vince Street Vet House,
how have they assisted you? I mean,you've, I've only been here a while,
although I guess you've been herehalf the time that you're allowed.
Do you find that you're kindof getting back, I mean,
not that it's an easy road,
but are you finding that you'rekind of finding your way back?
Absolutely. Yeah. I, I feelgood. I feel confident in,
(22:32):
in how my project andprogram is going, so yes. So.
Describe that. What is your projectand your program? How are they,
how are they helping you?
Well, my program is,
is to build structure that Ihave to be at a certain place at
a certain time.
And that I have a lot ofpeople behind me to help me.
And they all seem to be workingfor me and, and with me.
(22:57):
So you have not just one, butyou've got multiple people there?
Absolutely. Yes. Yes. And, and I'vebecome friends with some of those people.
And it's nice to work with peoplethat care about you as I do with them.
.
And what is it like living with othergentlemen who are kind of in the same,
same boat? I mean, they all have theirown stories, but Yeah. They're all here.
So typically we all get along. . And,
(23:20):
and we all know that our goal isthe same, and that is to move on,
get a home and, and, and live our life.
And so that's my goal. I mean,that, that's what I'm trying to do.
And hopefully in the next coupleweeks they find a home for me and
I'm moving in.
So you, you, you feel thatthere's light at the end of the.
Time. Absolutely. Well.
(23:41):
That's wonderful. Yeah.Yeah. That's wonderful.
Anything else you wanna shareabout the Vince Street Red House?
I'm just gonna tell you thatit's a very positive place.
that people are helpful and they'reconsiderate. They don't look down at you.
They, they wanna helpbuild you up. And it,
it's a good environmentto be in. Wonderful.
Well, again, thank you for Thank youfor your service. You're welcome.
(24:03):
Thank you for sharing your story.
Thank you.
Ready? So we just talked to Richard.He had quite an interesting story.
It sounded like he was felt like he wason the road and could see the light at
the end of the tunnel.
Very happy to hear that. Yeah. And that'swhat we went for all the guys here,
you know,
as for them to come here and maybe notbe in the best situation in their lives.
And then by the time they get outtahere, they see, just like you said,
(24:25):
light under the tunnel, youknow, and they, they had see,
have a positive outcome onwhere their future is going and,
and they see good thingsdown the road for them.
That's wonderful. And there's alsoother activities in this neighborhood.
We're kind of on the west end of Ventura.Like we, they call it the avenue,
right? Yes. And so it's notjust the Vince Street Vet House,
but there's things to do in the area.
(24:46):
Absolutely. We have a beautifulbeach just right up the road.
Some of the guys here actually, theylike to walk to the beach and back,
you know, within, we're within walkingdistance, so they can go there and,
and they have a library justa few blocks up the road.
We have a nice parkcalled the Kellogg Park.
They have workup machines there aswell. And they actually have a, a,
a track around the park. Well,if you walk around it four times,
(25:07):
it's one mile and it's actually marked,have the markings on, on the ground too,
which is kind of nice. Some of theguys here take advantage of that. .
And then if they want to get connectedwith an, a meeting or a meeting,
you know, we have a bunch Avenue aswell. Churches. , I mean, you name it,
we have the plethora of thingsin the area that, that, you know,
they have access to restaurants as well.
Plenty restaurants if they want togo and eat something on their own.
(25:29):
A lot of the guys that come here,they actually have a, an income.
A lot of people have thatmisconception that if you're homeless,
you're a veteran, that youhave no money coming in. . You,
and that's not necessarily the case.Like I said, 'cause they would.
Have their military, they.
Have military benefits. Yeah.They have military pension.
So they have SSI benefits.
Some of them have been service connectedsince they were in their twenties and
thirties. So they got a monthly stipend.
(25:50):
And so they're just not verygood with money management. .
And so we do our best to help them workwith their money. Right. And say, Hey,
you don't have to spend your money on, on,
on alcohol or drugs orlottery tickets. You know,
there's others they coulddo with their money. Right.
And we help them work a work on a budgetso that when they're on their own,
they'll end up in a placelike this again. You know,
not that we don't likethem, but you know, we,
(26:11):
the whole point is for us tohelp them get permanently housed.
You just wanna see 'em come back asa, as a one day visitor, not as a,
not as a resident. Exactly.
Yeah. Visit elective. But that's becausethat's the goal of the program. Yeah.
And how, how can folksget in touch with you?
Do you guys have a websiteand a social media and,
and maybe there's some folks listeningthat either have a, you know,
(26:34):
homeless veteran brother that they'retrying to find homeless housing to,
maybe they're far away,
but you can kind of put 'em intouch with the right people.
Yes. So we do haveInstagram, we have Facebook,
we have a website called turningpoint foundation.org, turning.
Point foundation.org.
They can go in there and find outhow they can come here, you know,
what the number they can call here for,
(26:55):
for an application or refersomeone that they know,
maybe a veteran that theywanna send here. But yes,
we do get a lot referralsfrom word of mouth.
We have guys come here from allover, from Monterey. Oh, really?
West California.
Texas. They're not justTexas. They're not just.
Locals? Not, not necessarily.No. Usually, usually for most,
for the most part theyare, but not necessarily.
We get it from all over California.Interesting. And every different states.
(27:17):
And yeah, we do have referrals fromlike, you know, family members or,
or friends or the va.
or other organizations in the area thatlike to help out veterans and they know
of us and we try and we do our best tostay connected with them so that if they
have someone that they can refer tous, you know, they'll bring them here.
Interesting.
I had a total assumption that theseguys were just coming right out of point
(27:37):
Magoo or, you know, the local, thelocal base. But that's not the case.
No. In fact, in most cases it'susually not. It's usually they,
they've been homeless orthey've been civilians for a, a,
a while before they come to a placelike this in most cases. Right.
We do have a few guys that comehere straight from Puerto Mego,
or I had last year, a guy that camefrom a, a base, an army base in,
in Alaska actually. Wow.And he grew up in Oklahoma.
(28:01):
He didn't want to go back to Oklahomafor, you know, his personal reasons. Sure.
He wanted to come out here to California.So he called us straight from Alaska.
We did a,
a Zoom interview and screeningo over the internet and he
was able to get a place here. Interesting.
And now he's actually housed inLA working for a living company.
Interesting. That's great. Very happylast. That's a great story. Well,
(28:22):
angel Echeverria,
thank you so much for being our guest onthis episode of On the Road. Thank you.
Loved having you. And of course, wewant to thank our sponsor, Opus Escrow.
And be sure to tune in next timefor the next edition of On the Road.
Hi friends, it's Paul Ward here, andwelcome to On the Road. I'm very excited.
Today we are in Ventura,California, and as you know,
our veterans need helpAny way they can get it.
They're the folks that keep us safeand make America the place that it is.
And who better to talk aboutthat than our guest today?
Angel Echeverria with theVince Street Vet House in
(00:27):
Ventura. Welcome to On the Road.
Thank you very much Paul.
Absolutely. So, what is this place?
So this place is a transitionalhousing facility, like you mentioned,
for homeless veterans than need a placeto go to get their affairs in order
after either they left the military orthey've been out of the military for a
number of years,
and they need a place to go and get thingstogether so that they can go back out
(00:50):
there again and continue being productivemembers in society after they go
through a hard time of their lives.
Tell us about Vince Street Vet House.
How long has it been hereand who does it serve?
So, Vet House has been hereroughly since the mid of 2016.
And it's a program for veterans.It's an all-male facility.
(01:10):
We help take veterans off the streets,and not necessarily just off the streets,
just people who are veterans thatare homeless and need a place to stay
temporarily. This isa good place for them,
and we help them findhousing while they're here.
How many folks can it serve at one time?
We have 10 rooms.
Five of those rooms are one-bed rooms andfive are two-bed rooms. So, 15 in all.
(01:33):
Right now, we have a full house.We have all 15 beds filled up. But,
in most months of the year,we usually have a full house;
completely every bed filled up.
It's very rare that we have anythingless than 13 or 14 clients here at one
time. Gotcha.
Gotcha.
I would imagine you've got a list a milelong of people that are trying to stay
here.
(01:54):
We look at each client, you know,
when we take his needson a case-by-case basis.
No two veteran's needsare alike. And, you know,
some of them may have medicalneeds, mental health needs.
They all have housing needs, obviously,otherwise that wouldn't be here.
But they have other issuesto deal with as well. So,
we do our best to address each oneof those leads and identify what
obstacles I've been keeping them frombeing able to continue being out there in
(02:18):
the world. And being at peace, first,with themselves and also around them.
And you have a slogan thatkind of fits to that. Yes.
It's, "One veteran at a time.".
One veteran at a time. For the luckyfew that are chosen to live here,
what is life like at theVince Street Vet House?
So, we do our best to provide a verysafe and walkaway environment here.
We provide lunch and dinner,
(02:40):
and they cook their own breakfast andthey're able to stay here, you know,
24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We also provide all sorts of wholeplethora of programs that they may need,
for example, substance abuse programs,
if they need to get connected with NAmeetings or AA meetings or mental health,
you know counselors or medical issuesthat they may have going on that we might
(03:04):
need to get them connected with.It could be a number of things.
And what is that like for folks that arehaving those mental health challenges
living in such close proximity to eachother? I would imagine there's some
challenges as you,
as the program manager have to dealwith on a daily basis to keep everybody
(03:24):
kinda living in, I guess, harmony?
Yes.
We have federations in the past sometimeswhere we've had to ask some veterans
to leave because they're unable toget a lot well with other veterans.
But those are, those are veryrare instances. Like I said, we,
we sit down with them and go through ascreening and vetting process to make
sure there's a good fit for them.
part of the require for you to be hereis that you have to be actively engaged
(03:44):
with case management.
We assign a case manager to work withyou and to identify your needs, you know,
and, and what we can do to addressthose needs. So like I said before,
any client can have a, a number of issuesthat they're dealing with at one time.
So we do an in individualizedtreatment plan and see what that client
specifically needs. And then we, we,
we work with our liaison with thecommittee partners with other counselors
(04:08):
in the area to try and addressthose needs that they need.
And what, I mean, those needs are many,
I assume there's future housing 'causethey, they can't stay here forever.
Right, exactly. And mental healthchallenges, health, maybe employment,
I mean all, all, all encompassing.
Absolutely. So this is a six monthprogram. So clients that come here,
they can stay up here for up to sixmonths as long as they're actively engaged
(04:30):
with their case managerlooking for housing.
And sometimes if wegive people extensions,
if we see that they really aretrying their best to get housed,
but because of the insurermarket crisis in the area,
it's not so easy to get this guest housed.Right. And we, many of these clients,
they qualify for a HUD vash. We justkinda like section eight for veterans.
Okay. But a lot of landlords,
even though they're notallowed to discriminate anymore against people with ary
(04:53):
vouchers, they find other waysto discriminate against them.
For example checking their creditscore or their rental history.
And some of these guys don't really havea whole lot of rental history. Right.
Or, or the, the bestcredit score. You know,
we get some guys that have never beenhoused their own apartment in their whole
lives. , you know, we got,
we got some guys here straightfrom correctional facilities.
Some people come here off the streets,
(05:15):
some people come from ahospitalizations for different reasons.
So sometimes it's not soeasy to get them housed,
even if you out are ableto get them a voucher.
So what happens if thesix month mark, I mean,
you don't just kick themback outta the street,
you're actively looking to Yeah.
No, we, we sit down with themand, you know, and we see,
try and find out what it is that's goingon. and for example, if they have a a,
(05:38):
a low credit score, we try andfind ways to bring that up.
Or we try and find housingfor them somewhere in la because even though we wanna
be able to find housing here in Ventura,
there's more availability of housingplaces somewhere else outside of Ventura
County. Like la justlast year we've housed,
I believe it was five orsix veterans in LA Okay.
In the project based housingbuilding that opened up over there,
(05:58):
actually specifically for just forveterans Semi Valley. So that was,
that was really nice.
Interesting. And thenin terms of employment,
I would imagine you look at what theirstrengths and weaknesses are and what
they like to do. And what kind of jobsare they, are they finding out there?
Many of them are work in, some ofthem go to work in construction.
So they go to work in supermarkets.
A lot of the veterans that we have herethough mostly are in their sixties,
(06:19):
We have some younger guys that,that come to the vet house.
But for the most part, some of the guysthat come here, they just really need a,
a place to, to stay like for housing.
And would you say, as veterans, are you,
are you finding that many of them havePTSD from their deployments overseas
or.
(06:39):
Yes. Well, some of the guys that we havehere, they've been outta the military,
some of 'em a few months, someof them a few decades. You know,
some of the guys that are here, they werein the military, the Air Force, Navy,
whatever branch they were in, you know,
in their twenties and now they'rein their mid fifties or sixties.
So many of them do have mental healthissues like PTSD, anxiety disorders,
(07:00):
you know, depression that they neverreally sought the health for. ,
especially some of the older generations.
It was very much frowned uponto even say, you know, I,
I think I don't feel goodor I, I I'm depressed.
Or because you were looked at us beingweak. you virtually, that was a culture,
a lot of it back in the military backby a few decades ago that was changed. ,
which I'm glad about. Imyself am ave a veteran.
(07:22):
I was actually outside up by here inVentura. . I grew up in North Carolina,
but I joined the Navy and I was stationedout here in Port Rimi for four years,
from oh seven till 2011. AndI was able to see, you know,
with my fellow shipmates as we call it,
the navy or fellow sailors when they weredeployed or when they would come back,
there would be a stark difference,really. Their demeanor. Interesting.
You know, some of them walkingalong with the wall with their,
(07:44):
the backing against the wall, just verydifferent. . And I'm really glad that,
that the military now has now takeunderstood that the importance of having
mental health services forthose individuals during.
During deployment. Yes.
During, during deploymentand after deployment,
they go back to the base and not justafter you military, but also after,
after you're out of, of the, of themilitary. completely, you know. . Some,
(08:05):
some of those guys, theyneed those services for the rest of their lives. Yeah.
I would imagine that that would've beenso challenging to not have any services.
And then on top of that,
there's the stigma about mentalhealth if you even did need service.
So it just makes sense that so manyended up homeless and where they did.
Exactly. And unfortunately,you know there,
(08:27):
there's about 22 veterans that commitsuicide every day. Really? You think.
About it throughout the.
Country. Throughout the country.Wow. When you say in the nation.
And if you think about that,that's about one roughly per hour,
about one every six, five minutes. Wow.You know, so you can see there the,
the reason why there's such a strongneed for people have access to you know,
professionals, you know,counselors, psychiatrists, you know,
(08:48):
psychologists people thatare available there for them.
And for our job is in many ways toencourage them, you know, to hey, it's,
doesn't mean that you'reweak or, or unless you're,
doesn't make list of a person Right.To seek help, you know? Right.
Everybody needs help every now and then.
Right. And I would imagine that, I mean,
even though everybody thatlives here has their own issues,
it's probably nice knowing that, you know,
(09:10):
I'm not the only one feeling thisor going through this experience,
and there's other people that are kindof in the same boat that I am. So.
Absolutely. You know, that's what we dohere. We, we try and let 'em know, Hey,
you guys are all here for the samereason, which is really to get housed.
Maybe they may have differentneeds, but you know,
we're all here in this together and wedo everything that we can to support you,
(09:31):
you know, whether we can where they'regonna criticize you or judge you.
And also all of the guys that,
that are here they were had actuallyvery successful jobs. You know,
not only having homeless theirwhole lives or anything like that.
just last year I had a guy here thatwas a high school teacher, you know,
really just Yes, absolutely. A fewmonths ago I had a guy that was,
had a master's in socialwork just like me. ,
(09:52):
he's a licensed clinical socialworker. He went through a divorce.
So a lot of times they gothrough traumatic events. Right.
the loss of a job death of achild, you know, divorce. They,
you know,
there's a number of reasons where they'regonna end up in a place like this. So.
For the teacher, just to kind ofgo back, walk us through that.
So he's a successful teacher. He'smaking a decent salary. He is got a,
(10:15):
you know, his future teacher pensionlined up. He is got mental dental vision.
And then.
So unfortunately for thatparticular individual, he,
when he was in his younger years,he did some drugs, I forget,
I dunno what his drug of choice was, buthe ended up relapsing. Unfortunately,
he ended up getting into it really bad.Ended up losing his house, his spouse,
(10:38):
his job, everything. And, you know, hecame to us basically with nothing. Say,
Hey, I'm unemployed homeless, I'm broke.
And we were able to provide asafe place for him to stay at.
And so he was able to get his, his feet,his affairs in order, so to speak. .
And he's actually working as high schoolteacher now. Oh, really? Absolutely.
Oh, that's great.
Yeah.
That's just one successstory. We have multiple.
(10:58):
That's, that's awesome. So what woulda typical day look like here at the,
at the house? I mean, you've got15 guys living under the same roof.
I imagine they don't have a, youknow, a cook, a chef. I mean, they're,
are they cooking forthemselves? How does that work?
So we actually have our teamhere from, from eight to four.
is myself the programmanager, and the case manager.
(11:19):
and their admin assistant slash cooking.Oh, really? So he actually Oh, wow.
Cook them lunch and dinner. Okay.
the only thing that they have to do forthemselves is cook their own breakfast
or they can get some p and j sandwichesthat are cooked prepared for them.
Right. Or some cereal. And manyof you guys do enjoy cooking. ,
they haven't had access to cookingfacilities, you know, a long time.
(11:39):
if you're living under a bridge orin your car for the past few years,
or in motels, you know,when you can afford one,
it's nice to have a place where you cango and, and use a stove and, and cook.
Right. I mean, the guysactually, it's really nice.
They actually even want to help our cookor they want to have their own special
recipe. Right. And I encourage them, Hey,if you guys wanna cook something for,
for your fellow veterans,you're more than welcome to.
(12:00):
I I go and buy whateveringredients they need or want. And,
and I bring that to them and theycook for the other guys. So when they,
so they guys have stepped up andthink, like, things like that. So.
That's awesome.
So special, special events, specialoccasions you here at the house?
Yes.
For Thanksgiving just like last year wehad the National Health Foundation that
came by and they brought some foodfor the guys from Golden Corral.
(12:21):
The year for that. Our, ourcook David, he cooked them nice,
nice turkeys for them with somesides. And, and also for Christmas,
you know, we pass that Christmaskiss and for the Christmas tree.
And it's just great to see the happinessfrom of these guys when they approach
me. Like, you know what, I,
I don't remember last time I had aChristmas where I was at home where I felt
like I was at home, you know, withpeople that cared about me since I was,
(12:42):
you know, so it's just, I used to withmy parents. Right. That type of thing.
Right. It's just a great feeling. Yeah.
To, I mean, loneliness is a hugeproblem in itself, so Absolutely.
The fact that you're around other peoplethat care about you in the same boat
makes it all the better.
And, and sometimes, like goingback to what I said before,
people would tend to self-isolate whenthey have some type of mental health
(13:03):
issues going on. because for help. Sothey tend to self-isolatelook for help.
So they tend to self isolateor even self-medicate. And,
and that's when you see alot of gas coming in here.
You deal with some typeof substance abuse issue,
whether that's alcohol or meth or, oranything that may be out there right now.
And how do you, how do you deal withthat? I mean, there's, they're not cured.
I mean, there's still addicts in away. They probably have their cravings.
(13:27):
Right. And now they're living here withother guys under the same roof. What,
what, what happens if you gottahave a guy on meth, let's just say?
So, Our main goal here is to helpthese guys get housed. That, that's,
that's what our, our focus is on. So,
you don't have to be completelyclean or sober to, to live here.
What I do is I ask the guys,
if you're gonna be engagedin those type of activities,
(13:48):
just don't do it here at the vethouse. You know, go to the beach,
go somewhere else. Just don't doit here. Right. Because that's,
we don't allow drugs or alcoholor drug peripherally here. Right.
And I'm very fortunate that most of theguys understand that and they respect
that they don't want to jeopardizeour housing. Right. And so they,
they don't engage thoseactivities here. I've had,
I've had had a few wishes in the pastwhere some guys have come home acting
belligerent, you know, and disrespectfulto other veterans and staff.
(14:10):
And I sit down with them and Ikind of give them a warning. Like,
you can't be doing that here. Youknow, that's unacceptable. Right.
part of what you ize housing, we'renever gonna make anyone else feel unsafe.
. And so, and most of the timethey understand that. Right.
We do have something also called asafe room. So basically what that is,
is a room where we take clientsto that are either intoxicated or,
(14:32):
or high and or something,
and they go in a safe room andthey kind of just sit there or,
or stay there until they can sleep itoff. before they go into their row.
Interesting. But I, I'm very fortunatethat I don't deal with that too often.
here. Well, that's.
That's good. Yeah. How did, how didthe Vince Street Vet House come to be?
I mean, did somebodyhave a drive by and say,
this is a great placefor a vet house? Or what,
(14:53):
what was kind of theopportunity, do you know,
that kind of made this place what it is?
Well, there's a strong lead for,for veterans services in the area.
And Turning Pool is able toget connected with the va. So.
You're, this is Vin Street,
vet House is is under the umbrella ofthe Turning Point Foundation. Absolutely,
yes. And it's one of, I think 13or 14 different programs that Turn.
(15:13):
Has Yes. Yeah. We wereone of 14 programs. We,
we work with the otherfacilities too. For example,
the Mental Wellness Center in Oxford.. They have a mobile program. Yep.
We've been, we've been there.
That's run by the programmanager. His, his name is Tyler. .
And so he sends out to a peerspecialist every Wednesday morning.
So the fact they're, they're here ornot actually in the patio. Oh, they are.
(15:34):
And they do like workshopson mental health issues,
or not necessarily mental health.
Some of them can be on like nicotinecessation or medication management,
or high blood pressure management,know that type of thing.
Whatever services that the guys wannatalk about or whatever services they need.
Right. Whatever topics thatthey have in mind. Right. so.
So did, so did Turning Point then purchasethis house at some point? And how,
(15:56):
how long has, did Vince StreetBed House been here? So.
This has been here since 2016. I,myself have been here since 2021. Okay.
But yeah, turning Point did purchase it.
And we have a contract with theDepartment of Veterans Affairs.
They provide most of ourfunding for this program. .
And we also have other nonprofits in thearea and other organizations that give
us donations. Like for example, today wewould have the American Legion stop by.
(16:17):
Okay. At 1:00 PM they're gonna bringus a, a nice check for us. Right.
Which might we, we might've used tomaybe replace some of the appliances.
Maybe some of the furniture.Maybe some of the beds. ,
I even tell the guys when theyleave the facility, if they want to,
they can actually take the,
the bed that they sleep out here andthe profit and everything. I mean,
other do. Right. They take that with them.
And then I used themoney for donations too,
(16:38):
buy new beds and madecomfort for the guys.
And I just expanded our storagearea. We had just one freezer.
Now we have two freezers. Nice.
So that's through Veterans Affairsand then American Legion and other
organizations get donations.
Yes. We also work with food Share. Okay.Yep. Which is a program here, Ventura.
Yep.
And right now we're teamed up with twosupermarkets in the area where we go on,
(16:59):
we Thursdays one is sprouts, theother one is Martin and Final. Yep.
And they give us all the food that theycan't sell because it, they're about to,
it's still good. Right.But it's about to expire.
Maybe the bananas gotta blemish, butit's still perfectly fine. It's still.
Perfectly fine. Yeah. Or maybeit can be meats or, you know,
apples or a lot of times it's, it isbread too. Anything like that, you know.
(17:20):
Right. Eggs. so we can still use that.
And we bring in here andsometimes we get so much of it,
we actually give it to people outin the community that stop by.
Or we can even take in some of theother homeless shelters. or there's,
we can take into some other homelessencampments in the area. Nice.
So it doesn't go to waste.
So what, what other programs are you,
are you working on here that kindof expanding your opportunities
(17:43):
for, for folks that are,that are living here?
So, for example, there's anotherorganization called gold Coast Foundation.
We get a lot of our referralsfrom them. and, and the va.
And they do a lot of outreach and, andthey bring 'em to places like this.
We also do some outreach in our part. We,
we go out and pass out flyers you know,for anyone that wants to come here.
(18:06):
And sometimes we have people callingfrom hospitals or maybe social workers
from, from jails. saying, Hey,
I have this guy that's been here for thepast few years. He has nowhere to go.
Will we accept him? We'll do a quickscreening via Zoom. . And, and, and we,
we go with our policies here, the rules.And if he's okay with that, then okay.
We give him a chance. . And hopefullyeverything works out. Nice. Wish.
(18:28):
I'm happy to say that in mostcases it does work out. . And it's,
it was a great feeling when you see aguy come here and just leave with his key
to his own apartment, you know? Right.And he's so excited and grateful.
It is just a great feeling for us.
So he went, he got here, he was downin his luck, spend six months here,
and now he's, you know,hopefully on his way and.
(18:49):
Absolutely now he's housed.
Participating member of society.
Exactly. You know,
the ever bring that productive memberof society once again working, you know,
and, and give it back. , you know, a lotof the guys that that, that leave here,
actually the ones that get house nearby,they wanna come back here and say, Hey,
can I cook for the guys thisweekend? Angel, can I cook on Friday?
Can I cook next week? AndI'm like, yeah, of course.
You're more than happy to come back hereand cook for the guys, or, you know,
(19:10):
or just watch TV with the guys, watchfootball or whatnot, you know? Right. I,
I'm okay with that too. 'cause They needthat sense of camaraderie that they,
that they had when theywere in the military.
Maybe they haven't had thatin a long time. Right. And so.
That is, that is an interesting pointbecause when you're in the military or an
organization like that,that's so structured, you,
you have purpose and you know,you know what your role is. .
(19:31):
And then boom, it just like that, youknow, you're out. Yeah. And it's like,
it's over.
All that structure is gone. Exactly.
You have somebody to tell you what to doalmost 24 7, you know, what, where to,
where to sleep, where to work. It'sa structured environment, you know,
and a lot of guys, they get used to theenvironment. . So when they're out free,
they don't really know what to do withall these free level now that they have.
(19:51):
It's so, it's an adjustment process. Yeah.
A lot of guys here come withadjustment disorders lot and,
and they would do our best toget it connected to, you know,
a va mental healthcounselor in most cases,
or even some other counselors here inthe area that can help them, you know,
cope with that. . And, and get past that.
So we were talking to theprogram manager, angel Esca,
(20:14):
and he gave us an opportunity totalk to an actual resident here
at the Vince Street Vet House.
And so Richard Eskin has been kind enoughto talk to us about what life is like
here. Sure. Welcome to On theRoad. Thank you. Absolutely.
So how long have you been here, Richard?
About about three months.
Oh, wow. So just recent. Yeah. Yeah.And what's, what's life like here?
(20:40):
Life is structured. Life is, is good.
And you don't have to worry about anythingbecause everything is taken care of
you for you.
Nice. And obviously youwere in the military.
I was US Navy.
How long were you in?
12 Years.
Oh, wow. Well, thank you for your service.
Yeah. Thank you.
And if you don't mind us asking,
(21:00):
how did you end up from the Navy to here?
Well, I, I, I led a prettyconstructive life and
it, the last year orso, last six months, my,
I went downhill basically. AndI ended up, I lost my apartment.
I ended up here, and I'm tryingto get another place and,
(21:24):
and move on with my life. .
And so in terms of the structure,it's obviously housing for six months?
Yes. And they provide meals? .
And then you have activities that aregeared towards helping you with future
housing and future employment.Is that, that's the goal.
That is the goal, yes, sir.
Okay. And what, what do you liketo do in terms of employment?
(21:46):
What were you doing beforeand what do you hope to do?
Well, I was a salesperson,
a sales manager my whole life workingfor companies that manufacture goods.
And I was the sales person forthat company. And I, as I said,
I did that for 30 years.
Is that what you hope to getback into? Is, is sales again? I.
Don't think so. I'm 73.I, I want to retire.
(22:09):
with a part-time jobor something for sure.
Sure, sure. So in terms ofthe Vince Street Vet House,
how have they assisted you? I mean,you've, I've only been here a while,
although I guess you've been herehalf the time that you're allowed.
Do you find that you're kindof getting back, I mean,
not that it's an easy road,
but are you finding that you'rekind of finding your way back?
Absolutely. Yeah. I, I feelgood. I feel confident in,
(22:32):
in how my project andprogram is going, so yes. So.
Describe that. What is your projectand your program? How are they,
how are they helping you?
Well, my program is,
is to build structure that Ihave to be at a certain place at
a certain time.
And that I have a lot ofpeople behind me to help me.
And they all seem to be workingfor me and, and with me.
(22:57):
So you have not just one, butyou've got multiple people there?
Absolutely. Yes. Yes. And, and I'vebecome friends with some of those people.
And it's nice to work with peoplethat care about you as I do with them.
And what is it like living with othergentlemen who are kind of in the same,
same boat? I mean, they all have theirown stories, but Yeah. They're all here.
So typically we all get along. . And,
(23:20):
and we all know that our goal isthe same, and that is to move on,
get a home and, and, and live our life.
And so that's my goal. I mean,that, that's what I'm trying to do.
And hopefully in the next coupleweeks they find a home for me and
I'm moving in.
So you, you, you feel thatthere's light at the end of the.
Time. Absolutely. Well.
(23:41):
That's wonderful. Yeah.Yeah. That's wonderful.
Anything else you wanna shareabout the Vince Street Red House?
I'm just gonna tell you thatit's a very positive place.
that people are helpful and they'reconsiderate. They don't look down at you.
They, they wanna helpbuild you up. And it,
it's a good environmentto be in. Wonderful.
Well, again, thank you for Thank youfor your service. You're welcome.
(24:03):
Thank you for sharing your story.
Thank you.
Ready? So we just talked to Richard.He had quite an interesting story.
It sounded like he was felt like he wason the road and could see the light at
the end of the tunnel.
Very happy to hear that. Yeah. And that'swhat we went for all the guys here,
you know,
as for them to come here and maybe notbe in the best situation in their lives.
And then by the time they get outtahere, they see, just like you said,
(24:25):
light under the tunnel, youknow, and they, they had see,
have a positive outcome onwhere their future is going and,
and they see good thingsdown the road for them.
That's wonderful. And there's alsoother activities in this neighborhood.
We're kind of on the west end of Ventura.Like we, they call it the avenue,
right? Yes. And so it's notjust the Vince Street Vet House,
but there's things to do in the area.
(24:46):
Absolutely. We have a beautifulbeach just right up the road.
Some of the guys here actually, theylike to walk to the beach and back,
you know, within, we're within walkingdistance, so they can go there and,
and they have a library justa few blocks up the road.
We have a nice parkcalled the Kellogg Park.
They have workup machines there aswell. And they actually have a, a,
a track around the park. Well,if you walk around it four times,
(25:07):
it's one mile and it's actually marked,have the markings on, on the ground too,
which is kind of nice. Some of theguys here take advantage of that. .
And then if they want to get connectedwith an, a meeting or a meeting,
you know, we have a bunch Avenue aswell. Churches. , I mean, you name it,
we have the plethora of thingsin the area that, that, you know,
they have access to restaurants as well.
Plenty restaurants if they want togo and eat something on their own.
(25:29):
A lot of the guys that come here,they actually have a, an income.
A lot of people have thatmisconception that if you're homeless,
you're a veteran, that youhave no money coming in. . You,
and that's not necessarily the case.Like I said, 'cause they would.
Have their military, they.
Have military benefits. Yeah.They have military pension.
So they have SSI benefits.
Some of them have been service connectedsince they were in their twenties and
thirties. So they got a monthly stipend.
(25:50):
And so they're just not verygood with money management. .
And so we do our best to help them workwith their money. Right. And say, Hey,
you don't have to spend your money on, on,
on alcohol or drugs orlottery tickets. You know,
there's others they coulddo with their money. Right.
And we help them work a work on a budgetso that when they're on their own,
they'll end up in a placelike this again. You know,
not that we don't likethem, but you know, we,
(26:11):
the whole point is for us tohelp them get permanently housed.
You just wanna see 'em come back asa, as a one day visitor, not as a,
not as a resident. Exactly.
Yeah. Visit elective. But that's becausethat's the goal of the program. Yeah.
And how, how can folksget in touch with you?
Do you guys have a websiteand a social media and,
and maybe there's some folks listeningthat either have a, you know,
(26:34):
homeless veteran brother that they'retrying to find homeless housing to,
maybe they're far away,
but you can kind of put 'em intouch with the right people.
Yes. So we do haveInstagram, we have Facebook,
we have a website called turningpoint foundation.org, turning.
Point foundation.org.
They can go in there and find outhow they can come here, you know,
what the number they can call here for,
(26:55):
for an application or refersomeone that they know,
maybe a veteran that theywanna send here. But yes,
we do get a lot referralsfrom word of mouth.
We have guys come here from allover, from Monterey. Oh, really?
West California.
Texas. They're not justTexas. They're not just.
Locals? Not, not necessarily.No. Usually, usually for most,
for the most part theyare, but not necessarily.
We get it from all over California.Interesting. And every different states.
(27:17):
And yeah, we do have referrals fromlike, you know, family members or,
or friends or the va.
or other organizations in the area thatlike to help out veterans and they know
of us and we try and we do our best tostay connected with them so that if they
have someone that they can refer tous, you know, they'll bring them here.
Interesting.
I had a total assumption that theseguys were just coming right out of point
(27:37):
Magoo or, you know, the local, thelocal base. But that's not the case.
No. In fact, in most cases it'susually not. It's usually they,
they've been homeless orthey've been civilians for a, a,
a while before they come to a placelike this in most cases. Right.
We do have a few guys that comehere straight from Puerto Mego,
or I had last year, a guy that camefrom a, a base, an army base in,
in Alaska actually. Wow.And he grew up in Oklahoma.
(28:01):
He didn't want to go back to Oklahomafor, you know, his personal reasons. Sure.
He wanted to come out here to California.So he called us straight from Alaska.
We did a,
a Zoom interview and screeningo over the internet and he
was able to get a place here. Interesting.
And now he's actually housed inLA working for a living company.
Interesting. That's great. Very happylast. That's a great story. Well,
(28:22):
angel Echeverria,
thank you so much for being our guest onthis episode of On the Road. Thank you.
Loved having you. And of course, wewant to thank our sponsor, Opus Escrow.
And be sure to tune in next timefor the next edition of On the Road.
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