Methodist center's programs for veterans offer help with jobs, housing, health concerns

YOUNGSTOWN

Charles Brown, 51, of Youngstown, formerly of Warren, had no job and was living with relatives.

Brown, who served in the Army from 1983 to 1993 during Operation Desert Storm, or “Bush I,” as he calls it, said he was close to being homeless.

Then he heard about the United Methodist Community Center’s Veterans Stand Down job fairs in Warren and Youngstown.

The Stand Down events are job fairs with benefits.

Veterans can get health screenings, haircuts, educational information and on-the-spot interviews with employers.

Brown walked out of the 2014 Veterans Stand Down fair in Warren with a place to live through the Youngs-town Metropolitan Housing Authority and a job driving cars off the assembly line at the General Motors complex in Lordstown.

“Now I have a place for me and my 5-year-old daughter to live,” said Brown, a single parent.

“That is one of our success stories,” said Juanita Thompson, coordinator of UMCC’s veterans programs.

Thompson, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Youngstown State University and formerly worked as an employment specialist at Community Corrections Association, said the program assesses the veterans to find out their specific needs, such as housing and employment, and barriers to consistent housing and employment, such as addiction, mental-health problems, a criminal record, lack of education and the need for technical training.

UMCC also offers classes on resume writing, job-interview skills and how to dress for interviews.

Read more about the program in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.