Help available to homeless vets, but they must want it first
Part 2 of a two-part series
By Carissa Marsh Special to the Acorn

For five years in the '60s Frank Mastre served his country as an active duty member of the United States military- and for the last five years Frank Mastre has been homeless.

At age 58, he wears a long gray beard, and his kind but tired face reveals a sense of both sadness and strength.

"Being homeless is terrible," said Mastre, a Vietnam combat veteran. "Not being able to afford food is ridiculous. You're like a dog. Everyone needs the basics- food, shelter, that sort of thing."

Mastre- who said he became homeless following a costly divorce- ran away from home at 15 and lied about his age to join the military.

"Times were different back then. There was a real push to join the service, to be a good American," he said. "I knew I had an obligation to my country, my neighborhood and my town."

Mastre went to Vietnam in 1965, serving in the Marines as a special operations "ground pounder." Like so many soldiers, he faced death on a daily basis, taking part in several parachute drops behind enemy lines.

And as a member of the United States Air Force, in 1969 he took part in the bloody conflict later known as "The Battle of Hamburger Hill."

Mastre is just one of dozens of homeless veterans in Ventura County and one of several in Simi Valley.

Cathy Brudnicki, executive director of the county's Homeless and Housing Coalition, said a recent survey they conducted shows that Mastre's story is not an isolated event.

"This count is representative of our community," she said.

The survey found that nearly 15 percent of the county's homeless population are veterans. Nationally, 25 percent of people living on the streets are veterans, with more than 20,000 in Los Angeles alone.

And most, like Mastre, are Vietnam veterans.

Help is often resisted

While there are a number of veterans' services in the county, too often legal, financial, physical or psychological barriers prevent those in need from getting help.

Salvador Ayala, commander of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 55 in Simi Valley, said that trust issues keep some from seeking the help they need.

"Most of the people who are injured do not want to go back to the VA or (other) hospital because of a bad experience one way or another," he said.

DAV members have personally taken reluctant veterans to the VA hospital Los Angeles, he said.

The local DAV provides veterans injured during combat with money, clothes, walkers, wheelchairs, medical attention and assistance in receiving compensation for their disability.

"We help them out with any needs that we can," said Ayala, who served as a paratrooper during the Korean War.

Wayne Wright, post service officer for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Simi Valley, deals frequently with veterans in need of medical care, housing and benefits information.

Like the DAV, the VFW often directly helps a needy individual with immediate financial aid (for a temporary shelter or meal) or by personally driving a veteran to the hospital, Wright said.

"A lot of these fellas are former professionals, people who at one time had good jobs and good lives," he said. "When you look into their backgrounds, it's hard to understand how they came from being in the service, to being professionals in our community, to end up living in an empty car in a field in Simi Valley."

Wright, himself a Vietnam Army vet, said that more outreach is needed to bring homeless veterans out of the cold.

"I believe that information to veterans, especially homeless ones in need, probably isn't disseminated as well as it should be."

For some, Wright said, homelessness truly becomes a lifestyle, one that is difficult to break. Often veterans won't seek assistance for fear of being institutionalized, he added.

Jorge Sotelo, a claims officer in the county's Veterans Services Office, said there are many agencies that care but that veterans don't always follow through on their end.

"When somebody throws you a lifeline, you just have to reach out and grab it," he said.

Sotelo said homeless veterans are usually referred to programs created specifically to address the needs of the homeless, such as the new One Stop Program in Ventura.

The weekly walk-in center provides immediate assistance by bringing a number of relief agencies to one central place. If the Ventura pilot program, which launched just a month ago, is successful, it will be expanded to the East County, Sotelo said.

One Stop is open Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the public health department auditorium on the Ventura County Medical Center campus at 3291 Loma Vista Road.

The Ventura center is similar to the Under One Roof Human Services Center at 80 E. Hillcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks, which provides a free clinic, hospice, counseling and other services.

Some services farther afield

For some services and shelters, local veterans must travel out of the county, a difficult thing to do without a car or money for transportation.

The Sepulveda Vet Center in L.A. County provides free counseling to all combat veterans.

"What we focus on is posttraumatic stress disorder," said Jerry Melnyk, team leader for the center. As a former Marine who served during the Vietnam era, Melnyk understands what veterans face, even long after their combat days.

"I think what people don't understand is that once you become part of a military unit, the camaraderie that is formed, it's kind of hard to relate to people who haven't been in that environment," he said. "It tends to polarize and isolate both parties."

Melnyk encourages veterans to deal with their stress by talking it through instead of turning to drugs or alcohol. Echoing the sentiments of other veteran advocates and agencies, he said, "There are a bunch of services. Don't sit there by yourself."

Also in Los Angeles, New Directions provides longterm substance abuse treatment from outpatient services and four residential treatment centers. New Directions support system also includes job training and placement, parenting and money management classes, legal assistance and remedial education.

Mastre remains positive in the face of adversity.

"I have hope of improving my situation," he said. "Once (my pension) starts, I will return to a normal lifestyle."

Mastre said he's taking life more seriously now- not being the "knucklehead" he was in his earlier years. He reminisces about his military days and how happy he was when he was able to eat warm oatmeal, take a shower and sleep in a cot.

Sadly, those are the same simple things he looks forward to today.

To download a directory of services for the homeless and needy, visit www.simivalley.org/html/ citizen_services_division.html.