Stepped-up efforts help veterans overcome homelessness

MELBOURNE  - Russ and Kelly Marquis read books and listen to the radio because they cannot afford cable service to watch television.

But after not having running water or electricity during years of living in the woods, they are content and appreciative of the help and opportunity they have been given to move into an apartment.

It's great to have warm showers, hot coffee and a real bed, though they said that it has not always easy to adjust to life in a traditional urban setting.

"Every time I take a shower I say I'm grateful for the water," Kelly Marquis said. "I can take a shower. You don't have to make a fire to have some coffee."

Russ Marquis, a 62-year-old Army veteran, was a heavy equipment operator living with little savings when he lost his job and soon after, his home. He and his wife are in  a permanent apartment thanks to Volunteers of America.

The Marquis and many others in Brevard County in recent months have been the beneficiaries of stepped up federal state and local efforts to end homelessness.

Advocates for the homeless say they have seen a marked drop in homelessness through those local effort, more than 50 percent decrease in the past three years.

The Obama administration through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs, set a goal of ending homelessness: Veteran homelessness by the end of 2015; chronic homelessness by the end of 2017; family homelessness by the end of 2020.

The federal government has distributed millions of dollars over the past few years to organizations and agencies working to help end homelessness.

"There are not as many camps out there," said Dorothy Walsh, of the Volunteers of America, which operates Veterans Village transitional housing.

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According to the Brevard Homeless Coalition's count, there are 827 people in the county who are homeless, but only 183 of those are not in transitional home or emergency shelter. Of the 178 veterans only 33 remain living in woods or streets. Mark Broms, executive director of the coalition, which includes more than 50 organizations, said that it is possible some of the 33 are now in emergency shelters. The number of homeless has dropped dramatically in the past three year.

"It's stunning," Broms said "We're not alone. This phenomena is taking place throughout the country."

While a lot of progress has been made in reducing the number of homeless in Brevard, advocates say there is still work to be done. Many formerly homeless in transitional or permanent homes now need jobs and skills to help them cope in a new lifestyle.

"Just getting someone housed doesn't solve all their problems," Broms said.

George Taylor, president of the locally-based National Veterans Homeless Support, said the next issue is going to be finding employment for those newly in housing.

"We're getting the numbers down, but if we can't' create some jobs, we'll be right back where we started," he said.

Taylor said he believes the number of veterans still homeless in Brevard is closer to 60.

Advocates also acknowledge that there are some that are chronically homeless that will remain that way by their own choice, said Michelle Clough, program manager for Volunteers of America.

"What we've seen with the chronically homeless, they are almost afraid," Clough said. "It's dealing with society and having responsibility."

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Homelessness comes with a stigma that is hard to overcome.

"A lot of people look at you because you're homeless they think something is wrong with you mentally," said Russ Marquis. "Nobody wakes up in the morning and says I want to be homeless."

Susan Mackay said she found herself homeless after not being able to find a job when her husband left and she missed mortgage payments.

Mackay was forced out of the Navy after 17 years because she could no longer meet the military's weight standards. Before VOA hired her, she slept with her two children in church-provided space through Family Promise. Mackay, 49, also lived in a transitional home for about a year.

"I was really fortunate that we weren't in the woods," she said.

Gregory Jarvis, 56, lived in the woods for more than 20 years after serving in the Navy. In a home now for about three years, he still misses the freedom he found in the woods.

"I like going out to the woods once in a while," said Jarvis, a former electrician who live off his disability income.

Though David Hill, 46, a disabled Navy veteran, is grateful to have his children, a daughter 11 and two sons, 13 and 10, out of the woods. But like Jarvis, he misses the solitude of the woods.

"Dealing with disrespectful people is the worst," said Hill, who has been living in a house since December. "It's hard to adjust. It's hard to be around a lot of people. You're not around all those issues in the woods. My heart belongs to the woods."

Contact Moody at 321-242-3651 or nmoody@floridatoday.com Follow him on Twitter @RNormanMoody or on Facebook at facebook.com/norman.moody.79