think globally act locally!

Quarterly
Ballston Spa, New York
Summer 2012
THINK GLOBALLY
ACT LOCALLY!
What RPC is doing to address the national
crisis of Veteran homelessness on a local level
Summer 2012
Board of Directors
Julia Towne
Ballston Spa, New York
Message from the
Executive Director
President
David Allard
Vice-President
Thomas Ratsep
Treasurer
Debora Bouchard
Secretary
Members at Large
William Bergan
Judith Craven
Joyce Dominick-Schaefer
Rocco Ferraro
Edward Gradwell
A number of exciting changes have taken place over the past few months; we
completely redesigned our web site to more comprehensively address who we
are and what we do; I encourage all of you to visit us at www.vethelpny.org.
And, as you may have notice on the cover, we have changed our corporate
logo to reflect a fresher, more up to date look.
During the spring months, volunteers from Rebuilding Together Saratoga
County (RTSC) built a gazebo for the Men’s Vet Home; at the Guardian House
for Women, the four area Kohl’s Department Stores donated $6,000.00 and
many volunteers assisted Chip’s Landscaping in creating a fabulous outdoor
rain garden, complete with an operating fountain. Included in the outdoor
project was a large gazebo and patio furniture donated by the Ballston Spa Elks
Auxiliary #2619. A heartfelt thank you to RTSC and their volunteers, to Chip’s
Landscaping, Kohl’s and their volunteers, and to the Ballston Spa Auxiliary –
the residents at both houses are deeply appreciative.
In keeping with the Veterans Administration’s goal of ending homelessness
among our veterans, SCRPC is embarking on a project to possibly expand the
number of apartments we currently have for formerly homeless veterans.
While still very much in the early stages of planning and brainstorming, we
want to move quickly on this project. The number of veterans returning from
the Middle East will continue to grow over the next two years and we want
to be prepared to assist where we can. I will keep you posted as we progress.
This edition of the RPC Quarterly will address our role in working with homeless
veterans; the message is clear – we must think globally and act locally to
address this serious crisis.
Bruce Relyea
Patti Southworh
A.C. (Budd) Mazurek
Executive Director
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Summer 2012
SCRPC Staff
Administration
Ballston Spa, New York
SCRPC PROGRAMS
A.C. (Budd) Mazurek
Executive Director
[email protected]
Mary Laskey, Finance Director
[email protected]
Marta Hay, Ass’t Finance Director
[email protected]
Marge Brahm, Admin Manager
[email protected]
Susan Hillman, Admin Assistant
James Colville, Facilities Mgmt
Saratoga Regional Housing Services
Robin Deierlein, Director, Section 8
[email protected]
Colleen O. Smith, Assistant
[email protected]
Stan Urbonowicz, Inspector
[email protected]
Community Development
Marvin & Company
[email protected]
VET HELP
Don Little, Director
[email protected]
Terry Claire, Vet House Coordinator
[email protected]
VET HELP
VETerans Housing, Employment and Life skills Programs
The following are the services we provide to homeless veterans:
Housing – We have a 12 bed transitory house for homeless male veterans
and an 11 bed transitory house for homeless women veterans, both located
in Ballston Spa; veterans can stay for as long as two years. We also have a 12
unit apartment complex in the Town of Wilton for formerly homeless veterans
and their families; several of the current residents came from our transitory
facility. We also have a two family residence in Ballston Spa which we rent
to formerly homeless, disabled veterans and their families. In addition, our
housing division runs the County wide Section 8 voucher program and the
Rental Assistance Program for Saratoga Springs; both are avenues to help the
homeless vet secure permanent housing.
Employment – We have a staff of five employment specialist who works
with homeless veterans in Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Schenectady and
Montgomery Counties in an effort to help them secure meaningful, long term
employment.
Life Skills Programs – We provide case management, legal and benefits
advocacy, treatment programs through the VA to treat PTSD, TBI, drug/alcohol
addiction as well as medical/dental care. We counsel the veterans on budget
issues, relationship building/repairing and living an independent life after they
successfully graduate from our program.
Pat Whitaker-Torres, Guardian
House Coordinator
[email protected]
Saratoga Regional Housing Services
(SRHS)
Leslie Carroll, Employment
Team Coordinator
[email protected]
Section 8 – SRHS administers the Section 8 voucher rental assistance programs
for the County of Saratoga and the Town of Wilton, with 269 families receiving
subsidies each month. Our office also oversees the Rental Assistance Program
for Homeless Person with Disabilities for the City of Saratoga Springs, as well
as the incoming VASH vouchers for homeless veterans. We currently have 18
families enrolled in our Family Self–Sufficiency program which helps families
in achieving economic independence. In addition we administer the NHTD
(Nursing Home Transition & Diversion) program for the Counties of Saratoga
and Washington.
Michael Brown, Empl. Specialist
[email protected]
Bill May, Empl. Specialist
[email protected]
Jonathan Parsons, Empl. Specialist
[email protected]
Fran Nichols, Empl. Specialist
[email protected]
Community Development
Marvin & Company
Administrative Offices
1214 Saratoga Road, Box 563
Ballston Spa, New York 12020
Websites: saratogarpc.org
vethelpny.org
Our Mobile Home Replacement program for Saratoga County and the
Schuylerville Main Street grant were recently completed with great success.
In addition, we were awarded our third Washington County Access to Home
grant through NYS HCR to assist the needs of handicap homeowners.
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Summer 2012
Ballston Spa, New York
THINK GLOBALLY/ACT LOCALLY
SCRPC/VETHELP’S local efforts to address a national challenge
of homelessness with our veterans
Depending upon which of the various sources one might access, there are between 68,000 and 175,000 homeless
veterans in the United States on any given evening during the year. An additional 100,000 to 150,000 veterans (and
families) are in danger of becoming homeless and nearly 500,000 veterans are unemployed or underemployed.
There is a critical need for developing more affordable permanent housing for our homeless (or soon to be
homeless) veterans and families. Tragically, there is an average of one suicide per day among returning veterans,
many of whom were unable to cope with challenges they face when they return home.
Locally, here in the Capital-Saratoga Region, there are over 500 homeless veterans on any given evening; the
unemployment rate among veterans in our region is 13.3% - considerably higher than the overall unemployment
picture. Affordable, permanent housing for some veterans, especially for disabled veterans, is out of reach,
forcing them and their families to live in substandard housing.
On a national level, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is planning to increase the
number of HUD-Veterans Administration Supportive Housing program vouchers (HUD-VASH) from 48,000 to
60,000 in 2013; this program allows for the veteran and family to receive financial support towards his/her
monthly rent and receive continuous support from the local VA staff to help them on their way. To that end,
the VA’s top priority is to assist local organizations in developing more permanent, affordable housing for our
veterans.
SCRPC/VETHELP has operated a transitional facility for male veterans since 1989, housing up to 12 men for as
long as two years; a similar facility for women veterans (the Guardian house) opened in October 2011 and can
house up to 11 women. Most of these veterans are referred to us from the various VA facilities in New York
State; many come to us recovering from substance abuse, suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), mental and physical health problems, sexual trauma – most have lost everything
including meaningful relationships with spouses, children and other family members. Some simply find great
difficulty in reintegrating back into society after they leave military service.
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Summer 2012
Ballston Spa, New York
(Continued from page 4)
When a veteran comes to our facilities, our staff assesses their needs and the challenges they face and help
them work up a plan to address these issues, one at a time, until the resident is ready to move on; we advocate
for the benefits they deserve and we provide legal assistance, as needed. When the resident is ready, we assist
them in finding meaningful employment here in the Capital Region. Once they have established a good track
record with that employer and have successfully “put their house in order”, we assist them in finding suitable,
affordable housing; SCRPC owns 14 apartments in Saratoga County that we rent exclusively to formerly homeless
veterans and their families; many of our current apartment residents came through our transitional facilities.
In addition, the veteran can access the aforementioned HUD-VASH voucher program; SCRPC also can assist the
veteran through our Section 8 program we administer in Saratoga County.
Since 1989, we have housed over 575 homeless veterans at our male facility. Since 2003, when we began our
employment program, we have increased the staff from two Employment Specialist to five and from 2003 to 2011,
we placed over 750 homeless veterans into meaningful employment and we are on target to place 120 veterans
in 2012. We have plans to expand our employment coverage area to cover 5 additional counties, providing that
additional funding becomes available through the Department of Labor/Veterans Placement program.
We are exploring the possibility of doubling the number of affordable apartments we maintain in order to provide
additional permanent housing for our formerly homeless veterans; and we will be adding an additional Case
Manager for our women veterans’ component.
While the challenges for organizations like SCRPC to meet the needs of
our homeless veteran’s continue to increase, it is nothing compared to
the challenges that the homeless veterans faces every day.
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Summer 2012
Ballston Spa, New York
Guardian House residents enjoying the
gazebo donated by the Ballston Spa
Elks Auxiliary #2619
Rain Garden at the Guardian House,
designed by Chip’s Landscaping
and built with donations and
volunteers from the area
Kohl’s Department stores
Gazebo constructed at the Vet House
by Rebuilding Together Saratoga
County and their volunteers from the
Ballston Spa Rotary
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Summer 2012
Ballston Spa, New York
UPCOMING EVENTS
August 6, 2012 - Retreat for Women Veterans, Wiawaka Holiday House, Lake George, New
York. Open to all veterans and active duty women. For more information:
www.creativehealingconnections.org
September 8, 2012 -5K Fund Raiser for VetHELP, sponsored by the Malta Business &
Professional Association. To register online, go to:
www.areep.com/online_reg/registration.php?eventID=79
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Saratoga County
Rural Preservation Company
P.O. Box 563
Ballston Spa, New York 12020
The Guardian House