VA aims to help homeless, at-risk vets find stable jobs

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

David Bowles is excitedly making plans to move from a homeless shelter to an apartment of his own in a few weeks, thanks to a new Department of Veterans Affairs program helping homeless veterans find long-term employment.

“They saved me,” said the 56-year-old former Marine, who got VA assistance in landing a job with a suburban Cincinnati company.

Job-ready veterans exiting homelessness like Bowles and others on the brink of homelessness can now turn to the VA’s Homeless Veterans Community Employment Services for individualized assistance in finding the types of stable jobs needed to sustain housing.

The program officially launched this month uses 154 community employment coordinators at VA locations nationwide to help identify job-ready veterans and establish relationships with local employers. They also connect veterans with resources to help them succeed after finding work.

Homelessness is a serious problem among veterans: Nearly 50,000 were homeless on a single night in January 2014, according to a count developed through a partnership between the VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

For Bowles, a job layoff and a failed marriage left him without money for rent or a motel when he returned to his home state of Ohio from South Carolina to hunt for a work.

The Cincinnati VA’s coordinator helped by connecting Bowles to a donated fund the VA uses to provide bus passes for homeless veterans and by reassuring the prospective employer.

“I could promise he would be able to get back and forth until he got his first paycheck,” said Elizabeth Appelman.

Bowles now works at Advanced Testing Laboratory doing quality control measurements of components for a major medical device manufacturer. The company’s human-resources manager said Bowles’ skills and “can-do” attitude fit their needs and the transportation guarantee helped everything fall into place.

“It’s worked out perfectly for us,” said Shelley Cooper.