By: Debby Johnson, Mortgage Loan Originator at Supreme Lending and T.E.A.M. US Organizer
After TEAM US had been out on the streets feeding the homeless for over four years, we discovered that there are still many homeless Veterans. Most of them do not know what their benefit are or even where to go to get help. When we had a loss of one of our homeless that turned out to be a veteran, the disappointment was huge that we had not done more for him. But you can’t fix what you do not know of ask. We wondered what else we could do. As a Nevada Veterans Advocate, I spoke with Phellep Snow and he suggest that he bring out the VA mobile Unit. It is working! Phellep spoke to one homeless Veterans on a feeding Sunday and made arrangements to pick him up Tuesday and take him over to be assessed for a housing voucher. He also helped one of the men living at Samaritan House to order a cope of his DD214. TEAM US is not currently a 501c3. We have volunteers that use their own out of pocket funds to share in the expense of cooking. TEAM US has three volunteers that are Veterans – Karen Jerome and Eugen. They can relate with all of the homeless Veterans about what it was like coming home after they got out of the military. Karen and Eugen are disable Veterans and they can sympathize with the paperwork of the disability process and encourage them not to give up. There are many who believe that you only enable the homeless by feeding them – and for some that may be true. But for others, you treat them with dignity and respect and help them to believe in themselves and that nothing is impossible. We currently feed approximately 300 on a private lot and as they come through the line we ask if they have served in the military and encourage them to speak with Phellep.
If you are interested in more information about TEAM US, please feel free to call Debby Johnson at (702) 592-2278 or Jerome Keever at (408) 605-3214
