Boots on the ground for D.C.’s homeless vets

Homeless veterans in the Washington, D.C. area are braving the last weeks of winter more comfortably, thanks to the generosity of some Legionnaires in the nation’s capital. Employees of the Legion’s D.C. office have donated several bags of clothing to residents of the Southeast Veterans Service Center in Washington, while members of the headquarters’ George Washington Legion Post 1 contributed several pairs of new boots to the city’s Winterhaven Homeless Veterans Stand Down on Jan. 12.

The Winterhaven event, staged annually by the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center, brings together several dozen support agencies who provide homeless veterans with, among other things, free health care and medical checkups, mental health and substance abuse counseling, food and clothing, benefits counseling and employment assistance.

The Legion’s Economic Division has supported the Stand Down and coordinated other relief efforts for D.C.’s homeless veterans for a number of years. Working closely with the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor, the Economic Division also represesents the interests of homeless veterans across the nation by lobbying on Capitol Hill.