Labor chief: Homeless veterans won’t be overlooked

The homeless veteran problem might not be the biggest issue facing the Department of Labor in recent months, but Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis was in Las Vegas today to let veterans know: You won’t be overlooked.

Solis, whose department has budgeted $35.3 million for the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program in 2010, spoke to about 75 people — many of them homeless veterans — at the U.S. VETS facility at 525 E. Bonanza Road.

She produced some staggering facts:

— One out of every four homeless adult males is a military veteran.

— The jobless rate for veterans who have served since Sept. 11, 2001, is 10.3 percent.

— An estimated 4,000 homeless veterans are on the streets in Las Vegas.

Of the $35.3 million budgeted for the program nationwide, which is a 34 percent increase over last year’s budget, U.S. VETS in Las Vegas will receive $170,000 in grant money.

“The veterans’ program in the Department of Labor does a small part, but we’ll push ourselves to do more,” Solis said.

Her goal? To help people like Joseph Samford. Just a few years ago, Samford was an ex-Army Ranger living on the streets of Las Vegas. He was alone. And he said suicidal.

But that was before Samford, 49, found help at the U.S. VETS facility, where he was given counseling and treatment for his “conflictions.” He now is an employed iron worker.

“Veterans spend years training to do things that, morally, we don’t find acceptable,” he said. “Then they hand you your papers and say, 'Go.’ ”

Samford said the military tore him down and rebuilt him to run on instinct. It sometimes takes years to adjust — if you ever adjust — to the standards people call “normal,” he said. But with help, it’s possible.

“Guys (from US VETS) are getting jobs now, in this economy,” Samford said. “That says something in itself.”

In fact, 191 former homeless veterans were able to obtain permanent employment last year through U.S. VETS, said Shalimar Cabrera, site director at U.S. VETS in Las Vegas.

Through case management, housing assistance and round-the-clock service, Cabrera said a significant difference is being made.

“It’s working,” she said.

But it can’t work without funding, which is why Cabrera said grants from places like the Department of Labor are so important.

“They’re (the veterans) committed to us, and we’re committed to continue to provide support to them,” she said.

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.