This is still an issue here in Austin,
even if more the people are out of
sight because of the camping ban
that was reinstated back in May.
Connor Board learns why the people
who served our country have a
higher chance of ending up on
the streets and more importantly,
we talk about what we can do about it.
Serving our country is one of
our nation's highest honors.
I started out doing communications
and then I got stationed at
Fort Carson, Colorado and.
She was in an artillery unit and ended
up working with the Ford observing
teams in the artillery units.
That was an infantryman with the army.
I spent a year in the DMZ in Korea a year
in Iraq and Baghdad from 2004 to 2005.
Blake Holbrook, a Purple Heart
veteran who had five men in his unit,
get killed overseas, knows that
this service can come with a price.
I ended up in three psychiatric wards,
mostly because the VA was just
giving you a lot of medications.
I ended up in a substance abuse
rehab for those medications.
If they keep me more medications and
really I would have been a homeless
veteran had my family not stepped in for
others like James Lambert who
moved to Texas with his friends
after their time in the military,
no one stepped in until later
on. I struggled a little bit
more than they did getting out.
And couldn't afford the
place I was staying in.
Uh, you know and after awhile I ended
up living out of a an 82 Ford Ranger
in a Walmart parking lot. James
lived in that parking lot for a year,
struggling with alcohol and
painkillers that he got hooked on.
After being treated for back pain
when I was going through that situation.
My lowest point?
I considered suicide because I
was like there's no way out there.
I'm not, I can't.
I can't deal with it anymore. He
never shared that he was homeless
when this was happening. This secret
struggle is common among veterans.
Wearing their uniform,
you have so much pride,
so much respect for yourself and
others that when you lose your home.
It's embarrassing, it's sad
now. Both Blake and James are using
their experiences to help others.
Blake is a peer mental health
specialist with the Samaritan
Center in Austin and Works with
veterans in the state jail.
He says about 50% of the veterans
in his program were homeless
before they were arrested.
A lot of times will work with the
VA and they have a HUD Vash program
that will give him a voucher for,
say, three to six months of rent.
In Austin, as we all know,
the housing prices prices are skyrocketing.
Just rent in apartments is difficult,
so if they have these vouchers at the
end of those vouchers they can't afford,
they don't have a job that can afford
their rent in Austin and a lot of
times they just end up back on the St.
James is the peer service
coordinator for the military veteran
peer network in Travis County.
He works with the Police Department
and Sheriff's Office responding to
veteran interactions and meets one
on one with veterans to connect
them with different resources.
And when the camping ban came into effect,
I lost contact with a lot of
the vets that were in the area.
I used to be able to go every day and
see I knew where all the veterans
that I was talking to was staying.
And then I'd always run into more.
The 2021 estimates by the ending
Community Homelessness coalition before
the camping ban in May showed of the
3160 people experiencing homelessness
and Travis County 284 were veterans.
That means while veterans only make
up 5% of the general population.
They make up 9% of the homeless population,
Blake says in a city as innovative as Austin,
we need to find solutions.
So when you come to the table saying,
let's reinstate the camping
ban and let's get rid of the
so called trash in this town.
Well turns out that trash are humans
and we should act accordingly.
So come to the table with solutions,
not just talking about a problem.
Blake and James using the good and
bad from their past to lead fellow
veterans to a new chapter. Of healing,
you're struggling right now.
That that's OK.
We all we all struggle.
Where do you go from here?
There's a path to be successful.
You just got to choose.
And you know one point.
Both James and Blake made is the importance
of caring for the entire person.
They think that Austin could use more
facilities at both house and treat
people to stop the cycle of homelessness
and get to the root of the issue.
And if you are a veteran in need
of any kind of help, you can find
this story on our website kv.com.
There will be a list of
organizations as well.
They can connect you to the right resources.