Housing for Homeless Veterans Dinner
- Department Commander Joe Socha, Brigadier General Scott D. Wagner, Mrs. Sam Saccamango, Congressman Jason Altmire
Today we continue to have young men and woman fighting the War on Terrorism. Some of these veterans will fall in to a life of homelessness. There are still veterans from previous wars that are becoming homeless, while some continue to remain homeless.
Homelessness remains a serious national problem that affects hundreds of thousands of U.S. veterans. On any given night an estimated 250,000 veterans are living on the streets or in shelters, with at least twice as many experiencing homelessness over the course of a year. More than one third of the adult homeless population is veterans.
The American Legion moved into a new frontier 23 years ago by implementing the Housing for Homeless Veterans Corporation. The mission of this corporation is to provide a safe, clean, stable environment for a veteran while he or she receives job training and counseling to learn the life skills needed to be a productive citizen and self sufficient. A veteran has up to two years to establish the contacts and skills necessary to return to the workforce. Nearly 700 veterans have gone through this program, with an approximate success rate of 85%.
On January 9th, a dinner was held by the Housing for Homeless Veterans Corporation at the Holiday Inn Pittsburgh Airport. The dinner, held not only to raise funds for the remodeling and upkeep of these properties, (located in Moon Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Ephrata, Pennsylvania) but also to acknowledge those who have given of their time and efforts in making this Pennsylvania American Legion program a great success. Special thanks to guest speaker Brigadier General Scott D. Wagner, Deputy Adjutant General, Veterans Affairs, along with Steve Robertson, The American Legion National Legislative Director, Congressman Jason Altmire, and Congressman Tim Murphy, who offered remarks.
This year there were seven awards given to companies and/or individuals for their outstanding support and impact to the community this important program. The recipients were: Wyatt, Inc., Joseph Savino, Robert Kulus, Rick Isles, Craig Curtie, Fred Episcopo and Rebuilding Together Philadelphia. A special award was given to Sam Saccamango.
Article written by Colleen Washinger