trying to help one of our iraqi war vets - frustrated

INITIAL 07-20: I just was involved in one of the most heart wrenching things i have ever dealt with...

There is an iraqi war vet who has been living in a parking lot in the Frederick, MD area for the past 5 years. his car doesn't run at all, so he is without AC or heat, and some perp actually stole two of the wheels a few months ago. he sleeps sitting up in the honda, and cant even close one of the doors all the way. i've tried helping him before, and he refuses most of it.

but today i was able to convince him to accept an older minivan i was going to junk, so he can have a bit more room to sleep. the doors can actually close and lock. it has transmission issues, but it starts and will run. i threw a luggage carrier on top so he has extra room for storage, and put a mattress in the back, so he doesnt have to sleep sitting up anymore.

i hope this helps him feel a little more comfortable, and have a bit more room.

but i feel absolutely horrible that this is how one of our former servicemen has to live, while we are giving all sorts of benefits to people who are not legally in our country.

just seems wrong

While i am venting, i need to say just how disappointing it is to know that lots of people have driven by him while he was sleeping in his car, and NEVER in 5 years stopped to check on him.

and that includes some of us...

some of the silence is astonishing ☹️

i don't know whose beat, sector, or patrol squad handles this area. but community policing isn't doing that running man challange nonsense. it is helping people like this, and getting others in the community to help as well.

so what happened?

UPDATE 07-24: Picked him up this morning, and he pushed back on accepting a bagel and diet soda. Finally got him to accept it after about 15 minutes of watching me wolf mine down.

We went to the Frederick MVA, and got the paperwork completed and submitted to get the minivan titled in his name. Saw that we could get him registered to vote, and that was a stumbling block for him.

apparently he was sincerely worried that if he registered to vote, that somehow the VA might find out where he lived... ☹️

finally got him to fill out and submit the voter registration card, but that was all he could handle this morning. he asked if i could take him to the Doctor and the Social Security office on wednesday, so that's what we are going to do. i dropped him back off at the van, and went to talk with the owner of the local car dealership.

after telling him about Roger and what we were trying to do, he agreed to have his mechanics look at the van, and write up estimates for free, to see how much it would cost to get it fixed to pass inspection, and for getting the transmission fixed. it's a good start.

Army peeps listen up, because i'm not sure that i caught or remember this correctly...

Roger said that he was in the 11th Artillery, 2nd (battalion or division), and was stationed in Schofield Barracks when state side. he didn't mention the MOS (?), but said that he did the trajectory calculations and plotting for artillery rounds.

now the wait until wednesday.

has anyone here ever dealt with someone like this?

Pilotguy299, it's a noble and kind thing you are trying to do As a Army vet and a guy whose career put me in contact with a lot of these folks I can suggest this. I am sure as big as Frederick has grown they have a VA office there. They will have a person there who works an outreach program usually in conjunction with a group like the Salvation Army, that targets homeless vets. They will be glad to hook him up with whatever he is entitled to. I know we have such a program here. A friendly word of warning . A large percentage of these folks that are homeless or asking for money claim to be vets, many are not. They always try to avoid the VA. An outreach person with any experience could tell after a couple minutes. Good luck and bless you for your good heart. F6Broy

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Originally Posted by F6Broy

Pilotguy299, it's a noble and kind thing you are trying to do As a Army vet and a guy whose career put me in contact with a lot of these folks I can suggest this. I am sure as big as Frederick has grown they have a VA office there. They will have a person there who works an outreach program usually in conjunction with a group like the Salvation Army, that targets homeless vets. They will be glad to hook him up with whatever he is entitled to. I know we have such a program here. A friendly word of warning . A large percentage of these folks that are homeless or asking for money claim to be vets, many are not. They always try to avoid the VA. An outreach person with any experience could tell after a couple minutes. Good luck and bless you for your good heart. F6Broy

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thank you for the suggestion and for the warning. I have seen his CAC card and 214, so he's not a scammer. and the other thing is that he does not accept anything without a lot of pushing. he will only eventually except so much I even then there's an awful lot he refuses to take from people.

Mental illness creates huge barriers when trying to help folks out.
Folks with mental illness do not want to admit they have a problem and or do not believe they have a problem. Some may, at the insistence of their family, get temporarily admitted for diagnosis and treatment but most stop taking their meds just weeks out of the hospital.
Normally a city has some social workers ... etc... who monitor the homeless population; also wise to check with the police force to see if they are aware of this VETS dilemma and location. They may know him well but ignore him since he stays way below their crazy radar.
Mental illness is the world of the Psychiatrists and psychologists but it often ends up in a social workers lap just do to the pass the problem attitude that exists in the U.S. since we emptied out the mental institutions starting back in the late 60's.
I tried to help a couple of these homeless folks / Vets out and it bit me and I learned that my job was to talk, encourage and offer support but to avoid becoming the thing they were dependent on - that can ruin your life. Good Luck.
Have you learned who his family is and where they live?

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Originally Posted by rudymsmith

Mental illness creates huge barriers when trying to help folks out.
Folks with mental illness do not want to admit they have a problem and or do not believe they have a problem. Some may, at the insistence of their family, get temporarily admitted for diagnosis and treatment but most stop taking their meds just weeks out of the hospital.
Normally a city has some social workers ... etc... who monitor the homeless population; also wise to check with the police force to see if they are aware of this VETS dilemma and location. They may know him well but ignore him since he stays way below their crazy radar.
Mental illness is the world of the Psychiatrists and psychologists but it often ends up in a social workers lap just do to the pass the problem attitude that exists in the U.S. since we emptied out the mental institutions starting back in the late 60's.
I tried to help a couple of these homeless folks / Vets out and it bit me and I learned that my job was to talk, encourage and offer support but to avoid becoming the thing they were dependent on - that can ruin your life. Good Luck.
Have you learned who his family is and where they live?

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You put this more eloquently than I could. This is screaming mental illness. He doesn't want help but is out in public. Maybe he could be taken in as a loiterer, then get the mental care he needs. I wonder why he's allowed to stay out like that. It's illegal in most places, I would think. I'm not saying toss him in jail, but it could begin a process that isn't happening right now.

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Originally Posted by wjduke

You put this more eloquently than I could. This is screaming mental illness. He doesn't want help but is out in public. Maybe he could be taken in as a loiterer, then get the mental care he needs. I wonder why he's allowed to stay out like that. It's illegal in most places, I would think. I'm not saying toss him in jail, but it could begin a process that isn't happening right now.

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It's not illegal to be homeless

Sounds like he's was a 13F or 13D (Fire Direction control specialist). working in a FDC maybe... they're the smarter of the gun bunnies that man the cannons. :icon_wink:

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Originally Posted by willtill

It's not illegal to be homeless

Sounds like he's was a 13F or 13D (Fire Direction control specialist). working in a FDC maybe... they're the smarter of the gun bunnies that man the cannons. :icon_wink:

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I didn't mean it in that way Will. It is illegal in many places to just camp out wherever you feel like it. He could live in the woods and not be seen. I meant it in that respect. I'm not diminishing the situation.

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Originally Posted by wjduke

I didn't mean it in that way Will. It is illegal in many places to just camp out wherever you feel like it. He could live in the woods and not be seen. I meant it in that respect. I'm not diminishing the situation.

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I know. I didn't mean to insinuate your post in a negative way either. I was just making a general statement about the homeless.


Hey Piloyguy299? Is he staying in the Walmart parking lot (east side) off of MD 85?

he has a job and been living in the parking lot where he works, and his employer is OK with him doing that. The guy is not dumb by any means he's just a lost soul.

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Originally Posted by willtill

I know. I didn't mean to insinuate your post in a negative way either. I was just making a general statement about the homeless.


Hey Piloyguy299? Is he staying in the Walmart parking lot (east side) off of MD 85?

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PM inbound

UPDATE 07-26: Today did not go well 😪

so this morning I went to pick him up to take him to his appointments. once again he refused to accept breakfast so I did not push the issue. get him to the doctors office so he can have his appointment, and all of that goes well at the beginning. I guess what he didn't realize is that you can't get copies of certified medical records unless you had actually been to the doctor before.

so we left there and tried Social Security anyway using the print out the doctors office would give him.

two years ago Social Security had given him a letter to use with the MVA, to try to get his drivers license. this time they would not even give him that, and told him that his only option was to get certified medical records to use so he could apply for a replacement Social Security card.

this is a circular nightmare. his license has been expired for a few years and the MVA won't let him get a new one without having all of the documents in hand. and Social Security won't give him a replacement card unless he has a valid drivers license. and the MVA will not even accept one of their own documents as proof because it is expired.

we are going to see if we can get a certified copy this Friday at his next doctors appointment. I wonder what will be our next roadblock...