Homeless Veterans Of San Diego

I am usually one to keep quiet when it comes to politics as I run a successful non-profit for Homeless Veterans. I make it a point to just be neutral and stay ...in my own lane and just do my best to lead my organization with kindness, compassion, and love for those that have served our country and fallen on hard times. Life is not perfect, none of us are perfect and we all are in this together in my opinion! It is up to each of us to make a difference in the world, lend a hand to someone that is down and help those less fortunate than ourselves. What I see going on in my city - is so so wrong though, that I have no choice but to speak up! Speak up for those that can't, that are too shy or too afraid.... be the voice of those that can't be heard! Closing the San Diego Convention center and forcing hundreds of United States Citizens, possibly thousands into smaller, more crowded shelters or possibly no shelter is WRONG! Some of these US citizens are families, single women, children, Veterans, the elderly, and those that have a mental illness. They are vulnerable, weak and should not be on the streets or in these shelters. For the last few weeks my phone is ringing off the hook, I am working 15-18 hour days trying to help as many of these folks as I can. This is a crisis! Our shelter is filling up, my waiting list is growing and I need money to keep these rooms going so these Veterans can be sheltered. We have tent cities popping up in the community too because our city still can't come up with an effective solution to solve this very important issue. Yes, city officials sit back and put a priority on an immigration issue that is illegal and does not take care of our United States citizens first. I think that before any aide goes to help people from other countries, it needs to first go to our own U.S. citizens. When they are all housed and have proper treatment and care then we can start taking care of others! Housing 1st, Shelters 1st for Veterans and US citizens, and then we serve the rest!

We need your help.... Our Shelter is filling up again! www.hvofsd.com

Together Community, Neighbors, Churches, Groups and Compassionate Loving people can make the difference ... and End homelessness! We have all heard for years t...hat this or that political figure, who often conveniently is trying to run for office, making all the promises. Promising an end to homelessness that will Never happen at tax payers expense! Then you have community and churches that step up and get creative,think outside the box and implement the real solutions! I was honored today to meet with Pastor Rolland Slade of the Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon! Together Vanessa Graziano of Oceanside Homeless Resources and I took a tour and spent time with the pastor, learning about these Emergency sleeping cabins they are building on the churches property. Real answers to REAL challenges, in their community! I love it! So inspiring to take a tour and imagine the possibilities of bringing something like this communities across San Diego to finally address the homeless epidemic with a viable solution. Not one that shuffles homeless neighbors from here to there and spends excessive amounts of money with little statistical results or information to prove success and money well spent! We need to take charge, as a community of loving and caring neighbors and develop solutions ourselves! Be the change!!

Our calls have drastically increased in the past few days since the "Stay At Home" order has gone into effect. COVID cases are on the rise and there are NO winter shelters open here in North County! How is this even possible in America's Finest City? We need your help to take more Veterans in to our program and help them stay healthy. Please consider donating to help our veterans stay sheltered during this time. We currently are housing 2 families with small children, a female, a cancer patient, and a few seniors.

Donations are really needed tonight... we are trying our best to keep these veterans housed and moving forward. I don’t like asking for support but at this time..., we are privately funded. We have been approved to receive some county funds but won’t receive it until early november apparently. We have limited our program to those with significant disabilities, small children or those that are in danger due to domestic violence! Please consider giving what you can! Or donate directly www.hvofsd.com See more

We are all in this together!

Love this Mini Man!

The impact of COVID is really setting in. People who lost their jobs are now losing their homes. Today I am meeting with a disabled veteran that is in a wheelchair with a 3-year-old little boy, that up until last night, was sleeping in his car. He is raising his son by himself. I will also be meeting with a 46-year-old woman, 12 year Navy veteran who was a hospital corpsman. She was unsheltered and without a car. There does not appear to be any addiction issues, just a los...s of job and nowhere to go. This is real, these are the faces of homelessness.

Reflecting on the day today, and all the lives lost on this day 19 years ago. I also think of all the paths that were changed that day... when so many felt in t...heir heart that they wanted to serve their country. Every day I have conversations with Veterans from all walks of life that we're called to serve that day! Each one of them had a past, a future ahead of them and each of them was profoundly changed as a result of 9/11. Many left their small towns, joined the military, and committed their lives to the FREEDOM of others! So many of the veterans I serve... live with the aftermath of the war, friends that didn't come home, friends who came home but crumbled in their own traumas, struggled silently and then, unfortunately, ended their life. Today is so much! If you have the opportunity to talk to a veteran, a first responder, a police officer, a nurse, or doctor.... be sure to thank them! Lots of lives changed 19 years ago! I know my life was changed forever.... Fallen NEVER Forgotten... Sgt. Kyle Colnot, KIA 4/22/2006 Iraq

Collecting Coins in the Month of September For A Cause! So many lives were changed 19 years ago! So many paths changed for so many men and women after the events that rocked our nation. Every day, in my office or on the phone. I counsel and assist the men and women who were drawn to serve after that horrific event. I deal with the aftermath of war and time served in the military. Life after the military is often difficult. Civilian life is much different from life on the b...ase in the military. Many of our veterans struggle to really return to life as they knew it before the military. Many struggle to leave the things they have seen and heard in combat theater.... there in the foreign land. 136 Homeless Veterans have gone through our program and found permanent housing and hope in their future. We are hoping to help many more in the months ahead. We can't assist these Veterans, without your help. It takes each one of us to make a difference. We are going to be collecting coins VIRTUALLY for the rest of the month of September. Gather all the loose change in the bottom of your purse, on your dresser, under the cushions on the couch, or wherever that stash is and donate it to us to help keep veterans housed while we help them find permanent housing. The person that donates the most will receive a limited edition HVSD sweatshirt and a mystery amount Amazon gift card. Just gather your coins, go cash them in, make a donation on here or our website hvofsd.com and label it COINS FOR A CAUSE and we will notify the winner October 2nd! All donations are due by midnight on Wednesday. September 30th.

There was no better way to spend my day, out here saving lives and breathing hope into those that have lost their way! I was so proud of my veterans who stepped in to help their community! We got 7 rooms moved to a location!

136 and counting! Today we got Fantastic News! Two more of our veterans received approval for permanent housing today and will be moving into their new places within the next few weeks! Housing our veterans through the process has proved 100% successful. Giving them a safe, secure, stable place to start their journey towards independence, self-sustainability, and a future full of hope and a HOME of their own. Every veteran that has come through Operation Fresh Start over ...the last 3 months has come out having a HOME of their own to go to! One Veteran at a time! Every Veteran deserves a home! This makes all the effort we put into our veteran's worth every second! It is wonderful to see them moving forward and getting back on their feet! We are excited about their future and watching them prosper. Our program is unique because many of our veterans often come back and become mentors for the other veterans that are going through our program!

134 lives have been changed because someone cared! 134 Veterans have gotten a FRESH START, feel a new purpose, and now awake every day with hope for the future ...and a roof over their head. 134 Veterans have been, touched, transformed, and permanently housed. We have 7 veterans and their families remaining in our shelter program - let's keep them housed. Help us wrap up the transformational journey for more lives this week. Help us keep our veterans housed in our shelter program for a few more weeks. We have come so far with all of them, they have worked so hard and now they are each so close to going into their own places! If you can, please help us keep these veterans sheltered for just a little bit longer, while we finalize their housing. VENMO is the quickest way for us to receive funds, please consider donating there. With Facebook, we have to wait 30 days to access funds!

Love the 1st Official Tik Tok Video! Great job to Nick

The face of our homeless veterans has made a drastic shift in the past few years! Homelessness is now effecting the youngest generation of Veterans and their fa...milies. Factor in the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are expecting another 20,000 to become homeless in San Diego in the next month. Our program currently is housing 17 veterans and their families. Three of our guests are under 1 and another 6 are under 11. This is real life stuff we are dealing with. This is just the start of the devastating affects of COVID. Please help us keep these young families housed in our temporary shelter program while we engage them with the resources they need to move forward. Each room costs us between $57-$70 a night. This is our only option until we can acquire property and build more long term solutions. We are blessed to have teamed up with Oceanside Homeless Resource and Vanessa Graziano and Brandon Vitek to bring lots of services and support to our most vulnerable veterans! Having the veterans in these rooms with their families means we are keeping them safe, secure and giving them a platform to get the services they need and deserve! No one left behind! See more

This is becoming more and more common here in San Diego.... Meet our newest family to come into our program. Dad is a Marine Veteran who honorably served. Dad is out of work due to Covid and they were just kicked out of the place they had been living. They have a brand new baby girl that is just 2 weeks old and 5 other children that are suppose to be starting school this week. We are trying to get them into our shelter program to keep them all safe and sheltered...but we need yoir help.

So PROUD of all the Veterans in our program that are taking advantage of their GI bill and getting back to college this week! We are here to support you however we can!