OCW donation helps homeless vets at Florida VA

Veterans in the St. Petersburg, Fla., area seeking answers about Department of Veterans Affairs benefits claims and health care weren’t the only ones getting help from The American Legion over the past two days.

While the Legion conducted a Veterans Benefits Center from Jan. 14-15 at the Bay Pines VA Medical Central, homeless veterans in the area also received some assistance via Operation Comfort Warriors (OCW).

While at Bay Pines, OCW Coordinator James Ellison met Karen McGoff-Yost, the facility’s Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team social worker. McGoff-Yost told Ellison what some of the 96 veterans under the program’s care needed; Ellison responded by going shopping.

A few hours later, he returned with nearly $3,000 worth of items, including 70 pairs of tennis shoes, cases of water, sleeping bags, canned food, toiletries and other essentials.

“We have a lot of guys who come in where the shoes are literally falling off their feet," McGoff-Yost said. “They don’t have socks. They don’t have underwear. We really try to have items available in the clinic to hand them on the spot. It helps engage them (and) helps them come back to us and establish a trusting relationship.

“So the donations are extremely helpful because we can immediately and in real time right away start to get the resources to the homeless veteran who can really benefit.”

Prior to talking with Ellison, McGoff-Yost had no idea OCW existed. “I was absolutely thrilled to find out about the resource,” she said. "I think it’s going to benefit a tremendous number of veterans at this facility.

“We see a lot of veterans who, when they come in, they have nothing. They have the clothes on their backs. So to be able to give them something… it really helps a lot. It helps establish a relationship with the veterans.”

While in the area, Legion staff also visited the Society of St. Vincent de Paul homeless shelter, which works with VA to provide housing options for veterans. At the facility, staff handed out 17 backpacks filled with toiletries purchased through OCW. One backpack went to a veteran who had just successfully completed the program and was on his way to a new residence. He thanked the Legion staffers, telling them the backpack contained items he'd planned to purchase.