NCHV Honors Nation's Outstanding Homeless Veteran Advocates

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) honored some of America's most dedicated advocates for homeless veterans at its 2004 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. The awards were presented during the NCHV Annual Awards Banquet at the Wyndham City Center Hotel on May 20. Award winners ranged from large, international corporations to a formerly homeless man who has personally helped more than 2,000 homeless veterans regain their dignity and pride as productive members of society.

The guest speaker for this year's awards banquet was Department of Labor Assistant Secretary Frederico Juarbe of the Veterans Employment and Training Service. Juarbe spoke of the need for strong partnerships between federal agencies and community-based homeless service providers, and reaffirmed his commitment to help increase employment opportunities for homeless veterans.  

Candidates for the NCHV Awards are nominated by members of the coalition, but a person or community-based service provider does not have to be a member to be nominated. Nominations are accepted throughout the year, with most received during December and January, and winners are selected in early March.

Outstanding Corporate Partner Award:
Eli Lilly and Company
Indianapolis, IN

During the last three years, Eli Lilly and Company has positioned itself as the nation's leading corporate sponsor of homeless veteran assistance programs. Eli Lilly has made significant capital contributions to homeless service providers in several states – grants that have provided emergency and transitional housing, food, medical care, mental health services, substance abuse counseling and treatment, and employment assistance to thousands of homeless veterans. The company is a corporate partner at the NCHV National Conference, and this year provided assistance with media coverage for our Homeless Veterans Roundtable in the Cannon House Office Building and other special events. Since 2000, the company has provided personal care kits to Stand Down programs across the country. By the end of this year, more than 60,000 veterans will have benefited from this program. The announcement of the Eli Lilly and Company grant for a national Vendor Cart program to provide employment training for homeless veterans and revenue for service providers is the latest chapter in the company's unparalleled legacy of helping America's homeless veterans.

Outstanding Partner:
Century Housing Inc.
Culver City, CA

This company has been a guidepost member of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans since the beginning, and its unwavering support – both in capital contributions and leadership on the board of directors – has helped NCHV emerge as the leading authority on homeless veterans in the nation today. Century Housing has made its mark on national public policy by creating affordable housing communities that offer supportive services for low-income families in crisis, showing America how public-private partnerships can truly make a difference. Since 2000 the company has donated $50,000 to support the NCHV newsletter, which has empowered service providers nationwide and allowed the organization to grow beyond the most ambitious expectations of its founders.

Leadership Award:
The American Legion, National Organization
Indianapolis, IN

The American Legion has earned this distinction for the establishment and success of the "Homeless Veterans Task Force." Originally established during the 2002-2003 administration, the Task Force has expanded and is now established in about 35 states. The national organization is encouraging its members to become involved within their communities to assist in ending homelessness among veterans. This program comes under the direction of the National Economics Commission, which is chaired by Ken Sercerchi of Maine. Sercerchi represented National Commander John A. Brieden III during the awards ceremony. 

Partnership Award:
Elsie Bailey
National President (2202-2003)
The American Legion Auxiliary

Honored for her special focus on homeless veterans, President Bailey set up a "Veterans Pots of Gold" to raise funds to assist homeless veterans. Members of the Auxiliary were encouraged to donate funds, which they did, and the $40,000 was distributed to five homeless veteran organizations, one in each division of the American Legion Auxiliary organization, and to NCHV.  President Bailey visited several of the homeless veteran service provider organizations as she toured the states during her administrative year. She was represented at the awards ceremony by The American Legion Auxiliary National Vice President Sandi Dutton.

Public Policy Award:
Jeremy Rosen
Alexandria, VA

Jeremy Rosen is an attorney who has dedicated himself to protecting the rights of individuals who otherwise would have no voice. As the public benefits staff attorney at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, and before that in Miami, he has worked to increase access to Supplemental Security Income, food stamps, welfare assistance and other supportive services by homeless people. He is a national figure in developing legal strategies to ensure that people who need help are able to receive it, both on the federal and state levels, and is active in tracking the laws that criminalize homelessness in an effort to shape public policy to help, rather than punish, people who need public assistance.  Rosen was instrumental in the establishment of the $8 million Social Security Administration Hope Grants that were recently awarded.  For several years he was the lead person from the national homeless organizations who succeeded in advocating for the program. Rosen is now working at the national headquarters of Volunteers of America.

2004 Unsung Hero Awards:

Charles Blythe
Cincinnati, OH

He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam Era, and for five years in the Arizona National Guard. But this veteran also learned about homelessness firsthand. So, during his service with the National Guard, he began working with alcoholics and addicts, and began counseling combat veterans soon afterward. In 1988, he went to work for Ohio Valley Goodwill in Cincinnati, developing programs for older workers. Today, Blythe is the Manager of Special Projects for Goodwill, and is involved in the organization's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, four HUD grants serving veterans, and a VA Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program that facilitated the development of a 26-bed transitional housing facility for veterans.

Ivan Mason
Riverside, CA

A veteran who became homeless and eventually had run-ins with the law, Ivan entered the "Veterans In Progress" program at US Veterans Initiative in 1997. During his recovery program, he became an AmeriCorps Member and provided outreach to more than 300 homeless veterans. By 1999, Ivan had become the US VETS outreach coordinator in the San Gabriel Valley, and then became a case manager at US VETS' Westside Residence Hall. He is now the Director of Programs at March Air Force Base in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, and has personally helped more than 2,000 homeless veterans in Southern California.

Peter Starks
Los Angeles, CA

This combat veteran is called "an extraordinary man" by his employer, a testament to the healing that can occur when people care. He is passionate about identifying homeless veterans and passionate about helping veterans who have Hepatitis C get into treatment. Peter joined the Marine Corps at age 17. He celebrated his 19th birthday in Vietnam where he began using drugs and alcohol and learned about life and death. He was wounded twice and returned to California with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a substance abuse problem, and very angry. He spent the next 30 years of his life in and out of prison, living on the streets and in shelters. In November 2001, Peter encountered the most difficult hurdle of his life, combating Hepatitis C. He has answered the challenge by working as an outreach worker for New Directions Inc. – going to skid row, the jails, prisons and anywhere else he can find homeless veterans to inspire and encourage to choose treatment.  He is an inspiration to service providers and the homeless veterans they serve.

Department of Veterans Affairs Staff:

Ed Carillo
Escondido, CA

A licensed social worker at the VA Mission Valley Outpatient Clinic in San Diego, Ed is known for his expertise in many areas. He directs the VA homeless veteran outreach program, the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program, and is the primary resource for the VA Grant and Per Diem Program.  For more than a dozen years, he has helped homeless veterans and the organizations that offer services for them. Aside from his office duties, Ed has offered counseling for veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and goes to area facilities each week to provide benefits and follow-up counseling services. He was nominated because of his genuine concern for and dedication to this nation's homeless veterans throughout his career.

Bill Johnson
Minneapolis, MN

He is "the man to know if you are a homeless veteran in Minneapolis-St. Paul." The retired Lt. Colonel has a degree in critical care nursing and a family, but he is known on the streets as a man who cares about his fellow veterans on a personal level. He has been a member of the VA Minneapolis Health Care for the Homeless Outreach staff since 1993, and has developed a set of rounds in area shelters and soup kitchens searching for veterans who need assistance – everything from simple comfort items to substance abuse treatment and transitional housing programs. Beyond his work at the VA, Bill has been involved in most of the Stand Downs in Minnesota, helping with health care and benefits referrals for homeless veterans across the state.

Steve Berman and Bill Daniels
Los Angeles, CA

Steve Berman moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s from Dallas, TX, where he had worked on work therapy programs for homeless veterans, one of the most innovative approaches at the VA at that time. He went to work in a county that has the highest percentage of homeless people in the country. As the Director of Social Work Services at the West LA VA Medical Center, Steve has developed one of the most complete continuums of care for veterans in the country. One of his most important contributions was selecting Bill Daniels as the Director of Homeless Programs. Together, they helped negotiate through issues of "turf" wars, brought community-based organizations to the table long before it was mandatory to do so, and developed many of the programs US VETS and most other organizations in Southern California offer to homeless veterans today, including outreach, detox, drug and alcohol treatment, employment assistance programs, special programs for veterans with high barriers to reintegration, and the full spectrum of housing programs. 

Jim Mahoney
Sringfield, MA

With nearly 30 years experience in service to veterans, Jim Mahoney is no stranger to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. The Program Director for the VA Springfield Veterans Community Care Center has served on the NCHV Board of Directors, and his work with service providers and Stand Downs in Western Massachusetts has earned him the respect and trust of community-based service providers throughout the region. His expertise working with veterans facing psychosocial challenges and barriers to stable employment – as well as helping their families in periods of acute crises – makes him a valuable ally for providers hoping to expand the services they offer. Mahoney is well known for his energy, compassion and diligence and is truly a credit to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
 
Jessica Brian
Escondido, CA

A social worker at the VA Mission Valley Outpatient Clinic, Jessica was nominated because of her work with veterans experiencing mental and emotional crises. Not only does she provide assistance with basic services and referrals, but she "goes the extra mile" making sure homeless veterans get to appointments, offers guidance through their most difficult times, and does follow-up casework to ensure they receive the help they need. Jessica is called a quiet person who makes a tremendous difference in the lives of the people she helps.

Tom Oki
Los Angeles, CA

A 22-year veteran of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Oki was instrumental in program development at New Directions (NDI) when the organization began working with homeless veterans 14 years ago. He contributed many hours as a volunteer, providing counseling and inspirational support to veterans in NDI programs. He is called a "warm and gentle person" who engages people in treatment, and today spends all of his time at NDI doing assessments of veterans entering the program. Not a veteran himself, he is the son of a World War II combat veteran and remembers the camaraderie of his father's friends – his extended family. He has been helping veterans in need ever since.

Department of Labor Staff:

Richard Gray
Montpelier, VT

Richard Gray is one of the main reasons there are Stand Downs for homeless veterans in the state of Vermont, and the reason the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliaries support those events as partners. The Director of the Department of Labor Veterans Employment and Training Service in Vermont, Gray not only helped organize the events, he helped procure the supplies, clothing and equipment needed to make them successful. He ensured employment specialists would be available to help homeless veterans get jobs, and forged community partnerships that would offer supportive services. Because of his work, he was appointed to the American Legion Homeless Veterans Task Force for the Department of Vermont.

Special National Partnership Awards:

There are two other special awards the organization presented for outstanding collaboration and partnering.  Since we interact in a political world, we are often frustrated by what sometimes seems like a lack of sincere collaboration and partnering from political staff within Federal agencies from one administration to another.  However, we feel very different and appreciative of the current leadership at the Department of Labor Veterans Employment and Training Service.  Assistant Secretary Frederico Juarbe and Deputy Assistant Secretary Charles "Chick" Ciccolella have been true partners and have listened and acted on the suggestions and requests of NCHV and its homeless veteran service provider members. They have acknowledged and encouraged the important work of community based organizations serving homeless veterans, and have fostered a climate of mutual respect and cooperation in among all levels of the service provider community.

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