Navigating Veteran Homelessness in San Diego
Freddy Villafan Sociological Practice California State University San Marcos
Research Guidance Committee: Kristin Bates, Ph. D., Chair Linda Shaw, Ph. D Sharon Elise, Ph. D
Keywords: Homeless, Veteran, Military, San Diego
SECTIONS
Acknowledgment……………………………………………………………………….3 Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………5 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..7 Statement of the problem…………………………………………………………….....8 Ending Homelessness in 2015……………………………………………….....13 Literature Review……………………………………………………………………....15 Space and Social Environment and Criminalization of the Homeless………....16 Veteran Homelessness……………………………………………………...... 21 Theory…………………………………………………………………………………..27 Foucauldian principles and system critique…………………………………….27 Standpoint theory……………………………………………………………….30 Methods…………………………………………………………………………………33 Sample………………………………………………………………………….34 Setting…………………………………………………………………………..35 Stand Down Event and Central/ Southern San Diego………………………….35 Participants……………………………………………………………………………..38 Interviews………………………………………………………………………………44 Findings………………………………………………………………………………...47 Getting out: Negotiating a Leave from the Service……………...... 48 Discharge Status………………………………………………………………..49 San Diego – America’s “Friendliest” City? …………………………………...51 Living Out: Negotiating the Streets as a Homeless Veteran…………………………...53 Trust in Veteran Community: Legitimating Knowledge ………………………54 Solidary in Strangers: Communities of Kindness………………………………57 Roofs and Rules: Insight of Shelters……………………………………………59 Veteran Affairs………………………………………………………………….60 Non-Veteran Affair Resources………………………………………………….64 Hiding Out: Negotiating Dangers as Homeless Veterans………………………………66 Anti-Homeless Policies vs Ending Veteran Homelessness……………………..66 Criminalization of Homeless……………………………………………………72 Recommendation from the Veterans……………………………………………………76 Final Thoughts…………………………….…………………………………………….79 Public Policy Recommendations ……………………………………………………….80 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………82 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….85
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost I would love to thank the person that sacrificed her life crossing the border, from Mexico to the United States when I was four-years-old so that
I could have a better life. The risk my mother took and the life she has given me is one that I will never be able to repay. I am forever indebted to her. I love you Mom!
To my brothers and sisters, Manuel, Guillermo, Belen, and Diana you all have taught me so much.
To the girl that I met six years ago who has been there for me every step of the way, who has constantly pushed me to challenge myself, more than anyone else. For making me go back to school and telling me not to stop when I finished my Bachelor’s degree. For believing in me every step of the way. I love you Olivia! LJS
Thank you to Dr. Kristin Bates. I met Dr. Bates two years ago when she approached me after class and told me how excited she was about my research. That was the first time a professor showed genuine enthusiasm about my research. Dr. Bates anytime that you need me to babysit or take care of your cats just let me know. Thank you, it was a pleasure working with you.
Dr. Shaw, thank you for making me revise my sections and questions. I appreciate you pushing me to challenge myself and improving the depth and quality of my work. Dr. Sharon Elise, thank you for stepping in at the last minute. I appreciate all your input. Dr. Karen Glover, I appreciate the encouragement you provided when I was an undergraduate. You were one of the first professors that truly believed in me and motivated me to apply to graduate school, thank you. Thank you Dr. Suarez for your
3 feedback and encouragement. To my MASP cohort, I appreciate your unconditional support and friendship throughout this whole process.
Thank you to all participants who took the time to talk to me and share their stories. I express my deepest gratitude for our conversations and their kindness.
4 ABSTRACT
The purpose of this project is to validate the voices, experiences, and needs of homeless veterans in San Diego, California. I investigated how homeless veterans navigate and negotiate homelessness and related services in San Diego County. This study seeks to understand veteran homelessness in relation to San Diego military bases, government and non-governmental veteran organizations, and the types of funding that circulate through these institutions and spaces. This study utilized qualitative research methods to explore the following questions: What are the unmet needs of the homeless veteran population that are addressed (in)efficiently or not at all? What are the strengths and weaknesses of programs and services that seek to address veteran homelessness in
San Diego? How do veterans engage with these services, if at all?
This study utilized a phenomenological method to address research questions through individual narratives. For my data collection I conducted (13) face-to-face semi- structured interviews. The interviews demonstrate there is a multitude of state, city, military affiliated (such as Veteran Affairs), and community organizations (non-profits, churches, individual and philanthropic efforts) attempting to fill gaps of homeless needs and services provided. Participants provided their own direct and indirect evaluations of various programs and practices that they find troubling or helpful. Veteran’s discharge status played an essential role in determining their access to services as well as their comfortability and likelihood they would share their veteran status with others.
Participants’ responses revealed different experiences with their veteran identity depending on their discharge status because it influenced their access to services and fear of judgment from others. I explore these varying understandings of “deserving” and
5 “undeserving veteran status.” One of the most significant patterns that emerged was the organic homeless veteran community that circulated information about resources, news, politics, laws, and other services. There was a heightened sense of legitimacy if information came from another veteran. These channels of information played an instrumental role in determining what services the veterans would seek out and who they would trust. There is the potential that the results of this study can be used to educate lawmakers and other decision makers about best-practices concerning the dispersal of money and resources to veteran homelessness.
6 INTRODUCTION
In the first week of December 2013, I went to downtown San Diego for
December Nights, a holiday festival located in the famous Balboa Park. This holiday festival attracts more than 100, 000 people with free museums, music, and food. As I made my way to the festival on the city shuttle, I remember feeling excited to attend my very first December Nights. On the way to the park, the shuttle driver made a right turn onto Imperial Avenue, and I gazed out the window to see various tents lined up on the side of the street, accompanied by people lying down in sleeping bags, and a few others gathered around in camouflage jackets. One man had on a shirt that stated he was a veteran. That excitement and joy instantly disappeared when I saw all the people in sleeping bags and tents lined up on the side of the street underneath the bridge overpass. I thought about that scene all night, trying to understand how homelessness in
San Diego had become such a growing issue. I struggled to make sense of veteran homelessness in an area that houses several large military bases, family housing programs, and recent increases in funding to put an end to this very issue.
As a veteran and having graduated boot camp in San Diego at the Marine Recruit
Depot myself, I always believed San Diego to be a military friendly town. The large military population is coupled with red, white, and blue pride boasted on business windows, bumper stickers, and uniformed service members are vibrant throughout the towns that neighbor the many bases and naval shipyards. This shaped my inquiry towards examining why San Diego, being the military friendly city that it is perceived to be, experiences such high rates of homelessness among veterans. But more importantly I wanted to better understand the homeless veterans as they navigate San Diego
7 specifically; seeking to understand the role the military plays in their lives, if any, now that they are experiencing homelessness, as well as the role of community resources.
How do these services engage homeless veterans, and what do the veterans think about them? Through my literature review I encountered several perspectives on homelessness as an issue, staggering numbers, and ideas about contributing factors to homelessness. In this paper, I will discuss some of the problems that veterans face, discuss the literature of homeless and homeless veterans, and the way my research attempts to fill the gaps I identify in the scholarship.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Homeless veterans holding up signs, wearing camouflage uniforms, and using
Styrofoam cups to collect loose change from drivers waiting at stoplights are commonplace on the streets of San Diego at major intersections, mall exits, and near military compounds adjacent to highly trafficked neighborhoods. While many homeless persons panhandle for money at intersections in San Diego, an overwhelming majority of signage (usually a side of a cardboard box or thin poster board) references “veteran” and “homeless.” This image is especially jarring when signs like these are located across the street from a large military base and next to a military community, such as I often witness driving through Point Loma and Old Town in San Diego. The Department of
Veterans Affairs estimates that there can be approximately 200,000 veterans (National
Coalition for the Homeless 2015) who sleep in the streets across the country. This number can be much higher since there is no reliable way of counting this demographic of veterans. Currently, San Diego has the largest concentration of post 9/11 homeless
8 veterans in the country (Steele, Jeanette 2012). This statistic is hard to comprehend given that I was part of that Post-9/11 cohort, and I realized that someone I served with could potentially be one of the homeless veterans. San Diego County and City currently employs a point and count (PIT) method for estimating the homeless population. Their method is a snapshot in time of who appears visibly homeless in the selected survey areas, with the identification criteria for homeless, varying by the counters perspective, and educated guessing based on someone’s appearance or behavior. The official method. “To receive any homeless funding communities are required to present estimates or unduplicated counts or estimates of homeless persons in shelters and unsheltered locations during a one-night period within the last ten days of
January called the point-in-time count (PIT)” (Agans, Jefferson, Bowling, Zeng, Yang, and Silverbush 2014). The PIT count usually happens in late January early morning.
While there are many drawbacks to this process, one of the biggest is that counting at early morning is incredibly difficult because visibility is poor and most people look for out-of-the-way places where they can sleep during the night. The military has no system for identifying or tracking homeless veterans.
In January 2016, I volunteered to help with the PIT with the County of San
Diego to better understand the process for assessing and creating data on homelessness in the city. After registering as a volunteer, I received instructions by email explaining the method we were to use to count individuals and what to look for. The count started at 4:00 AM. There was one other person in my group, and we were given a map with an outline of our designated area. Our team was sent to a rural area near one main street and a convenience store that rested at the end of a long windy road that leads up to a large
9 Indian reservation and casino. It was pitch black outside, and the only light came from scattered street lamps, lit business signs, and our flashlights which made it difficult to see anything, let alone people. We were given a map of the locations where the previous
PIT had marked homeless, but we found no one in those areas. One of the challenges with the PIT count strategy, especially at 4:00 AM, is that most people are sleeping and tucked away in places where they do not want to be disturbed and try not to be visible from the street. The PIT counts homeless people according to vague signifiers (presence of shopping carts, sleeping bags, tents, luggage, tote bags/trash bags, a vehicle with excessive belongings) that are at the discretion of the volunteer and there is no way to determine if they are a veteran or not. While this method for counting homeless individuals is far from accurate, it is currently the only strategy widely used to calculate the number of homeless in the city, state, and country. The PIT data, number of shelters, and emergency shelters are included in a formula that determines the estimated number of homeless living in an area and this data is used to determine funding at local and national scales. While not veteran-specific, the PIT plays a significant role in determining veterans’ access to public homeless services.
The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) distributes 1.9 billion dollars nationally to 400 Continuums of Care (CoC). CoC is identified as a planning body comprised of homeless services, local and large county, city, and or multiple adjacent counties (National Homeless Information Project 2016) In a recent article, all 50 states and three territories were ranked from highest to lowest according to funding received.
This report showed not only how much funding a state was receiving compared to other states, but it importantly showed just how much funding and benefits certain states
10 would gain if the funding they received matched the number of homeless they serve, which is currently not how the funding is determined or distributed. This article addressed last year’s funding amounts, but in March, the President proposed an increase in the HUD funding to include a 14% increase to the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Grants program from 1.9 billion dollars to 2.4 billion dollars (National
Alliance to End Homelessness 2015). The other side of this equation is that if the states received funding according to per capita homeless populations, some states would lose significant amounts of financing. The national average per capita is about 2, 822 dollars.
The state of Connecticut received the highest funding per capita with 8,464 dollars while
Wyoming received the lowest per capita with 369 dollars. This report reveals that no state received the average amount of funding based on their homeless population.
According to the Point in Time Count for 2015, the top three states with the highest rate of homeless population need significantly more money to equalize levels of funding. If the funding reflected the number of homeless living in the state, New York would gain
79 million while California and Florida will gain 50 and 27 more million. Illinois would lose 50 million, Ohio would lose 47 million, and Pennsylvania would lose 38 million
(National Homeless Information Project 2015). All three of these states counted approximately 31,606 homeless individuals during their point in time count and their homeless populations ranked in the less than three percentile nationally. The states with the largest homeless populations accounted for approximately 236,084 homeless individuals and placed these states in the greater than six percentile, yet they receive drastically less funding than those states in the less than three percentile. Many factors impact the level of federal McKinney-Vento homeless assistance funding including the
11 performance of local communities in planning services and reducing homelessness. The
McKinney Act was the first major federal legislative response to homelessness, moving beyond previous conceptions of homelessness as only a local issue and intervening at a national level. The McKinney-Vento Act originally consisted of fifteen programs providing a range of services to homeless people, including emergency shelter, transitional housing, job training, primary health care, education, and some permanent housing (National Coalition for the Homeless 2015). “This analysis offers information that can address wide disparities that may be hindering the states’ ability to reduce homelessness, especially when compared to their peers” (National Homeless
Information Project 2016: n.p.). Today, McKinney-Vento Act programs have expanded, and funding has significantly increased. However, McKinney-Vento programs have suffered setbacks in recent years as these programs deal with the steady flow of homeless veterans across the country (National Homeless Information Project 2016).
The United States embarked on the longest war in U.S history against terrorism, which spurred longer and more frequent deployments and continues to produce new generations of combat veterans. It seems that if we stay on the current path, recent veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan will continue to join and replace Vietnam veterans as the homeless on the streets. According to the National Coalition for
Homeless, 47% of all homeless veterans are from the Vietnam era. This provides crucial information about the veteran population concerning their age but also helps to identify common factors that may lead to homelessness. I want to find out more about the relationship between military and community social services and veterans from the homeless veterans themselves. I argue that the most compelling knowledge on this topic
12 should come from the veteran’s experiences, to better understand and assess how the planning, funding, and delivery of resources and services designed to help them are playing out in their lives. Invaluable knowledge can be gained from legitimating their narratives and experiences, potentially highlighting issues, feedback, and innovative strategies to combat the root causes of veteran homelessness.
Ending Veteran Homeless in 2015
The numbers of homeless veterans have increased with the return of more troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Obama administration responded to this increase by vowing to get all homeless veterans off the streets by December 2015 (Somanader
2014). This ambitious goal has created a sense of urgency for homeless advocates who were concerned with meeting the 2015 deadline. As of this writing, the deadline has been extended to 2017. This kind of urgency is dangerous because it can lead to short- term housing solutions that are far from flawless. This is why it is important to get the perspective of the veteran and gain insight from their experiences with these programs and services. This research comes at a pivotal time, with the Obama administration increasing funding for more federal and local organizations to expand the wide range of assistance from mental health assistance, shelters, and increasing employment opportunities for “at risk” veterans. Although an increase in funding can benefit those who receive it, there is no accurate way to count the number of veterans that need help or who have not been helped by the deadline (United States Interagency Council of
Homeless 2015).
13 The military offers various programs for service members that are getting out of the service. Most tailored for helping with resumes, job networking, and a list of military and community health and counseling referrals all to prepare you for the civilian life
(My Army Benefits 2016). When I was discharged from the military in 2012, I went through a week long transitional program where they helped prepare me to transition to civilian life with the above-mentioned service
Most organizations that serve the veteran and homeless population track participation and success through black and white measures, such as the number of people checked into a shelter, or the number of meals provided, or the number of visible bodies on sidewalks. These measurements do not, and cannot, methodologically, account for the multifaceted nature of veteran homelessness because they can only represent those that are homeless by traditional standards (on the street, in a shelter, getting services). This qualitative research will provide context for this data by speaking to veterans about the story behind those numbers (for example what type of services do veterans need to survive or to help them get off the streets).
This study will contribute to the literature on veteran homelessness and social services by offering an analysis of the community relationships and engagements veterans have with veteran and homeless resources, an important but under-researched area not only in academia but the government and non-governmental organizations as well. How are veteran services perceived by homeless veterans in San Diego? Further, how have their experiences as veterans influenced their homeless experiences in San
Diego? How do they go about navigating potential resources? What services do
14 homeless veterans use and prefer, and which programs most effectively or ineffectively serve them?
By learning about how veterans navigate governmental and nongovernmental services in San Diego, we can better understand what practices work or need altering from a veteran-centered approach. This research can be useful in The National Center on
Homelessness Among Veterans (a program of the United States Department of Veteran
Affairs) investments towards developing and implementing evidence-based interventions in housing, healthcare, and supportive services, formulating policy recommendations, and disseminating findings and training opportunities.
LITERATURE REVIEW
In the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of homeless veterans documented in the United States, and specifically in San Diego, California
(Steele 2012). Much of the literature I survey here demonstrates that individual risk factors for homelessness include: poverty, discrimination, substance abuse and mental illness, inadequate support services, the intimate and consequential effects of (long- term) warfare, and financial hardships. Although it is difficult to identify a specific cause for such an increase, the most recent wars, motivated by the United States’ increasing concern with foreign and domestic terrorism, have continued to produce more, and younger, generations of veterans. The influx of veterans transitioning back to civilian life after service duties, combined with the lack of an effective and universal method for “counting” this demographic, makes it difficult to find out how many veterans are homeless at any given time. This missing information can lead to
15 inadequate funding for support services and other resources that combat homelessness, creating a critical gap in the number of veterans in need of assistance and the amount of resources allocated to help them. Also, the ways in which veteran services are implemented, from the design of resource programs to the front-desk associate who interacts face to face with the veteran, are important pieces of this homeless veteran puzzle.
Space and Social Environment and Criminalization of the Homeless
The not-so-private aspect of living on the street and in other public places puts homeless persons lives under scrutiny by people driving or walking past because everything they do is open for others to observe and unfortunately also judge. Living one’s life in a public space is radically different from the emphasis on privacy and personal space that is considered the norm in North America and other westernized parts of the world. The ability to own property and create a space of privacy is considered a marker of neoliberal success and prosperity. To not have the luxury of privacy or a
“place to go” is associated with negative stereotypes and stigmas. Wagner (1993) argues that the poor are stigmatized and blamed for being poor, and they are held responsible for nearly every existing social problem. This can affect the experience of homelessness differently for veterans and non-veterans who may experience public distinction between “deserving” and “undeserving” because of opportunities to claim one’s veteran status, appealing to national pride through this identification. Furthermore, Wagner
(1993) historicizes contemporary views of homeless and very poor in the U.S to include media accounts in television and newspapers that reveal and bolster stereotypes and
16 hostile views about the poor. He explains that many cities respond to increases in homelessness by instituting repressive measures, “including street sweeps of homeless people and the provision of bus tickets to send the homeless elsewhere” (Wagner 1993, p.2) were acting upon the widespread “not-in-my-backyard” movement against shelters and spaces that aided the poor.
Wasserman and Clair (2010) speak about the stigmas attached to those who are homeless, and importantly directs our attention to the effects of empirical measurements such as behavioral observation by passersby, that can play a dangerous role in causing overstimulation of addiction. Wasserman and Clair (2010) further explain that “a person of high socioeconomic status who “unwinds” with a cocktail before dinner, wine with dinner, and a nightcap (not an uncommon drinking pattern) is not likely to be stigmatized, whereas a person who is homeless who drinks cheaper varieties of alcohol also to reduce stress likely will be labeled an addict” (Wasserman and Clair. 2010, p.
73). This can lead to a situational predicament in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group known as stereotype threat. Again, the difference in consuming alcohol in private/indoors versus public/outdoors creates a distinction between leisure and addiction, in this case, alcoholism. This can lead to a homeless individual needing to explain themselves and their activities to others in a way that necessitates proving their sobriety or good behavior. This is the case in informal situations and formal interactions such as applying for certain resources and housing programs.
Wasserman and Clair (2010) discuss the unique characteristics of the environments in which those on the street live. They confront the fact that in some ways
17 those who are homeless remain relatively hidden is a mutually beneficial relationship.
Society does not want to see people who are homeless, and most often those living on the street do not want to be seen. The homeless serve as a visible reminder of the social costs of a flawed system. Witnessing a person standing on a street corner requesting assistance with a cardboard sign, or driving past someone sleeping under a bridge covered up in blankets is a jarring reminder, and realization for many, of the times when our social services, health care, criminal justice, and veteran services fail to address everyone. One or two people roaming the streets doesn’t cause an immediate uproar about social services, but increasing populations of homeless people, homeless camps, etc. are making their voices louder than ever. One consequence of the effectiveness of temporary shelters was that it reduced the visibility of the problem to the community overall, which reduced pressure to solve the problem in conjunction with limited data that reinforced the invisibility of the problem (Wasserman and Clair 2010). The authors go on to explain “the limits of the urban landscape and economic patterns of gentrification increasingly violate the symbiosis that emerged from a post-war urban flight. As wealthier people repopulate urban areas, those who are homeless ever more often have their environments assaulted” (Wasserman and Clair 2010, p.98).
Criminalization of the homeless is a multifaceted issue. Criminalization occurs through discriminatory vagrancy and loitering laws that punish people for staying in one place for too long, or for sleeping in public places. Criminalization also occurs when homeless individuals are profiled or targeted by police, essentially assumed to be criminal because of their status. For those without an indoor toilet, going to the
“bathroom” is not an option, and going outside, if caught, can get them fined too.
18 Although there might be working toilets nearby, many display “customer only” bathrooms signs in restaurants and corner stores, especially in areas with large homeless populations. Getting arrested spawns additional obstacles for the individual, with a fine to pay, or a court date to attend, entering the criminal justice system because of one's lack of housing and not a real crime, is a serious problem. Wasserman and Clair (2010) bring attention to the higher frequency of interactions homeless persons have with health care and criminal justice systems as a result of their living conditions and mobile lifestyle, arguing that homelessness is often precipitated by costs associated with these institutions. Wasserman and Clair explain that homelessness can increase chances of becoming sick, exacerbated by little recourse for illness or injury. They are more likely to be arrested for crimes associated with their migratory lifestyles such as vagrancy, and their necessity to carry out private activities and behaviors in public spaces that go against society’s expectations for privacy and individual ownership of property
(Wasserman and Clair 2010). Vagrancy-style laws were deployed throughout American history in various ways to control migration and frequently used to criminalize the status of being unemployed and prevent disorderly conduct, a definition that changed in different historical moments depending on who and what behavior was being targeted for eradication. This goes to show that contemporary loitering and vagrancy laws also have a back-story that can be read as targeting specific demographics and presently, the homeless population.
Another Study on criminalization concluded that homeless people have been frequent subjects of demonization, criminalization, and that contemporary fervor and casual brutality (Amster 2003). According to Amster, people living on the street are
19 often viewed as deviant and thus a threat to larger society. Amster argues that there are two strands that contribute to homeless stigmatization. “The first arises from invocations of disorder, illegality, and immorality that leads to processes of regulation, criminalization, and enforcement. The second is the disease and decay image, which leads to processes and sanitization, sterilization, and quarantine” (Amster 2003, p.197).
In other words, he says homeless people signify fear and threat to home dwelling people.
He includes Wright, Talmadge (2000, p. 27) in his discussion who says, “The subsequent social death which homeless persons endure is all too often accompanied by real death and injury as social exclusion moves from criminalization of poverty to social isolation and incarceration in institutions systems of control- shelters and prisons.”
Moreover, criminalization of homeless persons occurs for reasons other than dangerous criminal activity. Fines, harassment, arrest, and incarceration function to prevent an overflow of deviance within society. According to another study of Jailing of
Americas Homeless “Jail has always played a prominent role in efforts to enforce community behavioral norms (Fitzpatrick and Myrstol 201; p. 272) Those that enforce the laws that lead to incarceration are policy officer. (Fitzpatrick and Myrstol 201; p.
273) states “it is common for police to act formally, to invoke power of arrest to remove rabble, if only temporarily, from areas where their presence is deemed intolerable to the larger community.” They define rabble as people in the community viewed by mainstream society as bothersome or deviant because of their unconventional behavior, appearance, and customs (Fitzpatrick and Myrstol 201; p. 272). Clearly, incarceration has historically been employed for purposes other than locking up dangerous criminals.
20 The relationship between homeless stigmas and negotiating the various terrains that homelessness brings is unique for veterans. For individuals who were at one time tasked with some form of military responsibility, authority, and ‘upholding the rules,’ the transition to experiencing, fearing, and expecting criminalization constructs an impact for this particular population that requires more context to assess. This study attempts to provide context for this understanding of shifting power dynamics within society by centering the veteran’s perspective and experience as the root source of analysis.
Veteran Homelessness
For veterans experiencing homelessness for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) and other non-substance abuse related reasons, researchers found they had unique obstacles to obtaining services. Alison Hamilton (2012) found that homeless individuals who had a history of substance abuse were more likely to receive the necessary treatment than those homeless individuals did not have a history of substance abuse. These kinds of limitations on services can cause frustration for veterans who have lived by the rules (societal and military norms) and have not abused drugs and alcohol, as those veterans are the ones who are more likely to be denied because they do not possess a qualifying “need.” It can also be problematic when PTSD and substance abuse problems occur simultaneously, and only one or the other is addressed, failing to account for how the two interact with each other. For instance, a veteran might seek treatment for PTSD but not disclose a substance abuse issue, or seek treatment for addiction but not PTSD. If resource providers are not familiar with the veteran
21 demographic, their treatment and healing recommendations may not consider the intersectionality of these issues and cause more damage. This myriad landscape of veteran mental health realities makes this group qualitatively different in many ways.
Service members are exposed to unique and often traumatic psychological stressors during their service to our nation. Warfare produces an environment that puts service members at high risk physically and psychologically. For many, their experience sticks with them long after they take off their uniform. It’s been well documented that the traumas associated with warfare may result in post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, substance abuse, and homelessness (Department of Veterans Affairs, nd).
The majority of studies have identified the number of homeless veterans to be between
50,000 and 250,000 on any given night (Applewhite; 1997, Tsai; 2012).
A comparison between homeless veterans and non-veterans addressed this unique dynamic of these two groups experiencing their homelessness side by side and found that there was no significant difference in diagnoses between the two groups.
There was not a significant difference in mental health diagnosis, clinical status or health service use. The only major variation was that “veterans reported greater use of outpatient mental health services than non-veterans” (Tsai et al. 2012). This finding reveals differences in those likely to seek particular kind of care and thus amplifies the concern for veterans’ access and engagement with care related services and resources.
Another study focused that on female veterans found three barriers to social service: 1) lack of information about services, 2) limited access to services, and 3) lack of coordination across services. Many times the women in these groups described the irritation felt when dealing with these programs. This study found that “women were
22 unsure about aspects of services, such as eligibility requirements, location, and terms of use and duration of stay” (Hamilton, Poza, Hines, and Washington 2012, p. 58). Some women veterans also voiced suggestions, recommending that more fellow veterans should work with this population. One veteran advised, “They need to get women veterans to work in these different positions to help other women veterans” (Hamilton et. al 2012, p. 59). Some homeless women stated that there were more homeless services for men than women and what little co-ed services they did provide, often the women felt like they were viewed as a problem. They shared experiences where they felt viewed as “problematic” because staff felt that they might distract or “entice” men in the program” (Hamilton et. 2012). These feelings of “being a problem” and essentially a threat to the success of the program because of their likelihood to “entice” men are additional obstacles the women face, and unfortunate consequence of inadequate resources and services for this demographic.
Moreover, research found that women veterans are three to four times more likely to be homeless than non-veteran women (Washington, McGuire, Hines, Lee, and
Gelberg: 2010). The authors identified sexual assault that happened during military service a trigger anxiety, PTSD, and related psychological effects. Military Sexual
Trauma (MST) is the Veteran Health Administration’s (VHA) definition for the sexual assault and/ or severe and threatening sexual harassment that occurred during military service. Another study investigated to see if MST was one of the factors that caused homelessness among veterans. According to a study that looked at homeless veterans who used VHA outpatient clinics between October 1, 2009, and September 30, 2010,
“MST may be associated with homelessness among female veterans” (Pavao, Turchik,
23 Hyun, Karpenko, Saweikis, McCutcheon, Kane, Kimerling, 2013, p. 536). This study was consistent with previous research that found “homeless female Operation Enduring
Freedom/Operation, Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) veterans, the majority black, in their 30’s and unmarried, had been homeless less than twice in the past 3 years” (Tsai et. 2012). These are important findings worthy of attention and examination since all four branches of the military are opening their combat positions to women by 2016. The Marine Corps is already experimenting with the idea and has integrated females with male infantry officers creating the first coed officer course. With more opportunities and integration of women in the military, gender differences will serve as important factors to consider when implementing new policies to combat veteran homelessness and when analyzing my data related to homeless veterans experiences in San Diego.
Research suggests that in order to combat and end veteran homelessness there should be an amplified focus on the following three key points (Applewhite, 1997).
First, and probably the most important, there needs to be adequate housing or temporary shelter for veterans to have a safe and stable environment. The veteran should be able to stay longer than a couple of months, as many current shelters limit residence to only a few weeks. Many veterans claim that short-term stays do not give enough time for the veteran to get on their feet and look for work. Within temporary housing there needs to be an emphasis on providing assistance to veterans with children. Second, providing employment assistance and city transportation is vital for the veteran’s successful integration into society. By equipping the veteran with the resources to seek stability they have more opportunities to improve their situation. Access to free or subsidized
24 use of public transportation can provide freedom and mobility. Finally, providing adequate healthcare resources and welcoming services to veterans is instrumental in creating a supportive environment where veterans feel comfortable and able to seek care they need. Providing preventative health care can help homeless veterans avoid expensive trips to the emergency room, benefiting the veteran and taxpayers. These are just some of the common themes demonstrated through the literature that identifies positive methods of assistance in aiding homeless veterans. Research shows and veterans have identified, that efforts to address the aforementioned points can contribute significantly to veterans’ reintegration into society and their efforts towards self- sufficiency.
Through this review of the Literature, I examined case studies and research that address various layers to the homeless veteran issue often concluding with recommendations for what the veteran needs. I did not come across, however, sufficient literature on veteran-centered studies or research from the veteran's perspective. This gap in the literature, if addressed, could lead to more effective funding initiatives and veteran resource program design and implementation. Knowing the experiences of homeless veterans is the first step in creating the support and resources needed to address this national and increasingly local issue, as well as assessing existing services for their effectiveness and sustainability.
There is limited literature on the development and effectiveness of programs for the homeless, and almost no information on evaluations of programs and services from the consumer’s perspective- the homeless. Risks that result in homelessness are identified in the various literature, including several I have mentioned here. The
25 literature on homeless veterans’ perspectives is also non-existent. My research will help fill this gap in the literature by focusing on issues of community relationships and service provider engagement between homeless veteran consumers and the programs designed to get them into permanent and sustainable housing. My research starts with the homeless veteran first, using their personal testimonies and narratives as an alternative method to evaluate community, county, and veteran affairs programming.
This perspective is absent from the academic literature and political discourse on this issue.
The unique perspective I bring to this research is that I am also a veteran and can be considered an insider. This unique perspective I have will allow me to ask questions, and gather information others could not (Becca Zinn; 1979). My status as a veteran was disclosed to participants and provided an insider-outsider perspective for this research.
None of my research questions explicitly engage my status as a veteran, but my status did organically come up in several interviews through conversations with participants.
My veteran status provides me first-hand knowledge of military services and has the potential to make some, though certainly not all, veterans more comfortable sharing information on their experience. I utilized my insider knowledge as context for this research, but it is not the focus of this thesis.
THEORY
Homelessness is frequently thought of as an inevitable yet unfortunate aspect of society, but that does not mean the issue should be normalized and ignored. Instead, homelessness results from a social system, which fails to catch and support people who
26 are at risk of homelessness. The issue of homelessness is connected to changes in the economy, in particular, structural changes within the U.S. economy, the housing market, and significant shifts in policies that address poverty. The causes of homelessness reflect a complex and interconnected relationship between structural factors, systems failures, and individual circumstances. Homelessness is the unintentionally produced outcome of the cumulative impact of a number of factors and mutually interactive policies.
Foucauldian Principles and System Critique
Michel Foucault’s study of power coupled with his essay on governmentality is apropos to thinking about the strategies and techniques for managing and ordering specific populations, individuals, and groups. Foucault recognized the ways in which government systems arrive at specific ways of knowing, understanding, and managing populations. He explains, “The Human subject is produced historically, through elements of power-knowledge. The Individual is seen as a product of social techniques of power” (Townley;1999; p. 280). His critique of the systems of power provides fertile ground for an analysis of veteran homelessness issues through his development of the ideas of discourse and power/knowledge.
Foucault was more concerned with how power operates through the practices, techniques, and procedures that reveal how power mechanisms affect our everyday lives. Foucault’s view of power as a relation, posits that power is made visible when it is exercised and deployed at different levels. This departs from earlier understandings of power as purely commodity, something that can be possessed, quantified, or seized. This is useful for a larger understanding on how classifications of people interact with people classified as lacking, inadequate or indicate as failing some part of societal norms, such
27 as the connotations that the signifier “homeless” brings up. Veterans experience major cultural shifts as they transition into homelessness. Part of this is reformulating their relationships with society and institutional authority/power such as police. While criminalization of homeless occurs it’s important to highlight how individuals resist those systems to assert their own forms of agency. This shifts from a sympathy or victim framework to emphasize ways they are critical and build resistance.
In Discipline and Punish, Foucault facilitates a discussion of disciplines and new technological power that he argued manages the actions of bodies. He said this formulation of power operates in schools, hospitals, and military barracks through knowledge that serves as power over another (Foucualt; 1977). His argument here is that in these contexts, knowledge ceases to be liberating but instead becomes a mode of surveillance, regulation, and discipline. While this review of the literature has addressed ways power operates from a top-down approach, homeless veterans are actively surveilling the police and are critical of the forms of surveillance excreted onto them.
Their resistance is informed by experiences of targeted ticketing, stigma, and unjust treatment by law enforcement and anti-homeless campaigns. This form of power and resistance operates from a bottom-up approach. This understanding of the interacting networks of power is apropos for thinking about new economic and community strategies for addressing veteran homeless initiatives. The impact of the efforts will be determined by the approach taken, bottom-up or top-down.
Moreover, this moves us to thinking more critically about the unequal power differentials present within society. In the case of veterans who become homeless, they move from one side of the spectrum as someone thought to be highly valued in general
28 society, protector of nation and pride, and respected, to the opposite end of the spectrum in unrecognizable territory. How they conceptualize themselves, and how others conceptualize their changing status is ripe for revealing these shifting categories of value and belonging.
This provides the theoretical underpinning that can question how the system allows for veteran homelessness to exist and how homeless persons are constructed as objects of policy. Foucault offers “the history of bodies” for this type of analysis. He says the body is wound up in complex relations of discipline, surveillance, rescue, and assimilation. These complex relations are intersectional for homeless veterans. In other words, veterans who become homeless experiences these phenomenon simultaneously and as layered interlocking experiences. The military culture fosters extreme discipline of the service member and authorizers him or her to discipline other members of society.
This is also the case when it comes to loss of privacy while employed by the military as well as surveilling subordinates and the general public on a local and international scale. Rescue operates at different levels as well. While service members are tasked with various forms of rescue expectations and capabilities (providing humanitarian aid,
“rescuing” others through military action and more) once the veteran becomes homeless he enters another scale of rescue, becoming someone perceived as in need of rescue.
Assimilation is critical for veterans after leaving the military and adjusting to civilian life. The authority instilled in an occupation with the military is unique from other careers and can be difficult to adjust to after separating from service. Moreover,
Foucault puts pressure on assumptions that the body can only be valued when it is deemed non-threatening and productive (Foucault 1969). Foucault’s analysis is
29 productive for thinking about homeless because it is the production of spaces in which people have no physical or mental space to retreat and compares this to a form of violence. His understanding also attends to “a framework of meaning which are historically produced in a particular culture at a particular time” which emphasizes that meaning is derived situationally and is constantly in flux and fluid (Foucault 1969, p.
209). As the study participants revealed, their understandings of ‘veteran,’ ‘homeless,
‘support’ and ‘community’ have transformed over time due to a variety of factors.
Standpoint Theory
There is currently insufficient literature on the perspective of the homeless veteran, or research that attends to their daily struggles and challenges they face navigating social services. Understanding their narratives and day-to-day challenges can explain what services and policies we need to address and prioritize. Dorothy Smith
Smith’s Standpoint Theory can help us understand the problems homeless veterans face by centering research from their perspective, enabling a bottom-up approach where the research begins with the individual actually engaging with the services as opposed to starting with policy.
Dorothy Smith’s (1974) perspective can help us understand the struggles of a homeless veteran through their eyes, illuminating the material effects and realities of current approaches to dealing with the plight of homeless veterans. Smith’s work importantly contributes the notion that, "The only way of knowing a socially constructed world is knowing it from within, we can never stand outside it" (Dillon 2013, p. 321).
Standpoint theory emerged because of the lack of research from the perspective of
30 women (Thompson; 2011). Dorothy realized that the perspective of the woman is needed and it must be articulated from their own narration. This theory grounds my research because there is similarly not enough research from the perspective of the veteran. The first way to combat and end veteran homelessness is to figure what is working and why it is working from the perspective of the veteran. The homeless veterans’ perspective should be employed as a rich source of valuable information on the effectiveness and needed adjustments to approaches undertaken to address this issue.
Dorothy Smith argued that “no one can have complete, objective knowledge; and no two people have the Standpoint” (Applerouth and Edless 2010). This theory helps explain the significance of validating various forms of veteran experience because what works for one veteran may not work for another.
Collins, Smith and the New Feminist call into question traditional methods for validating, constructing, and diffusing knowledge claims (Mann, Susan., Kelly, Lori.
1997). The authors’ arguments support the fundamental essence of standpoint theory,
“that all knowledge is socially situated and socially constructed” (Mann and Kelley 1997 p. 394). Who has the authority and credibility to produce new knowledge? As this literature review shows, homeless persons face unusual obstacles to asserting their experience or views as credible knowledge because of negative stigmas associated with their homeless status. Their lifestyle is read by larger society as a signifier of failure or poor individual decision-making. The authors show that as society moves away from a sole focus on discovering a linear and universalizing “truth” we can turn our attention instead to other forms of validation that can address diverse realities. This change was grounded in a shift within epistemological debates that slowly realized the inability of
31 traditional knowledge frameworks to depict the experiences of people from different ethnicities, classes, and sexualities. The intersections of their experiences were only visible through new paradigms that acknowledged and fostered a politics of difference.
The politics of difference was made legible in modern scholarship that depicted the complexity of difference emerging amid the civil rights, women’s, and anti-Vietnam war movements (Mann and Kelley 1997). “Oppressed groups are frequently placed in the situation of being listened to only if we frame our ideas in the language that is familiar to and comfortable for a dominant group. This requirement often changes the meaning of our ideas and works to elevate the ideas of dominant groups” (Mann and Kelley;
1997, p. 394).
This quote speaks to the bureaucratic processes that end up silencing marginalized voices that do not have the institutional channels to interject their perspectives. In other words, how can we transform how we approach homeless veteran issues if we center the individual’s perspective front and center to inspire sustainable solutions? This theory is implemented through the in-person interviews conducted for this study. Speaking to the veterans in a setting that was comfortable to them provided an outlet for their situational knowledge to be heard and visible. Standpoint theory advocates that knowledge should be situated in individual’s diverse contexts and locations within society to make visible the social relations through which that knowledge is produced.
Smith’s Standpoint theory can attend to the everyday experiences of homeless veterans from this alternative and productive lens that is currently missing from existing literature. This is important because understanding their challenges and struggles can
32 help us understand what measures need to be changed to better help them. This approach supports the aim of this study by illuminating the importance of making visible the social production processes that contribute to diverse realities and experiences of veteran homelessness.
“People of color have always theorized,” suggests African American Feminist
Literary Critic Barbara Christian (1988), “but in forms quite different form of abstract logic. And I am inclined to say that our theorizing is often in narrative forms, in the stories we create.” Following this understanding that theorizing occurs through storytelling, the story of the homeless veteran understands how they theorize their homelessness. Theorizing happens in the streets. Whose interests are represented when strategies to address homelessness are acted upon without this perspective?
METHODS
My research utilizes a phenomenological method in order answer my research question through individual narratives. “The purpose (of phenomenological method) is to build upon and explore their participants’ responses to those questions” and “have the participant reconstruct his or her experience within the topic under study” (Seidman
2013 pg 14). By applying this method and asking open-ended questions during the interviews I am asking the participant to describe his/her daily experience and potential obstacles they face as a homeless veteran in San Diego.
I facilitated the interview according to the climate of the conversation. Asking open-ended questions allowed me the opportunity to ask follow up questions when appropriate. As I completed the interviews, I coded them according to themes that
33 emerged from participants’ common responses and keywords. After the first four interviews, I changed several of the questions for the remaining eight interviews that took place in different locations around San Diego. After listening to the audio recordings and transcribing them, I realized some of my questions were too long and potentially caused some confusion with the participants. Additionally, from the experience of transcribing and conducting interviews for the first time, I learned from my own mannerisms how I could improve as an interviewer.
Some of the questions that I used during my interviews include:
1. Can you share anything about being homeless and living in San Diego? 2. How do you go about accessing resources? 3. What services or resources have helped you the most? 4. What services or resources have helped you the least? 5. Can you share anything about your experience accessing benefits or services; what has it been like?
Sample
For my interview sample, I relied on both purposive and snowball sampling. I conducted my first four interviews at Stand Down, a homeless veterans event. Because
Stand Down is strictly for veterans, I did not have to worry about homeless individuals that were not veterans. However, as I continued finding participants, I had to ask for potential participants who were homeless veterans. I also used snowball sampling.
Snowball sampling is when the researcher asks the participants if they know other individuals they can refer to the researcher (Babbie; 2008). I was referred to most of my participants by non-veteran homeless persons who knew where groups of veterans hung out. Purposive sample was used at large parks where a large population of veterans gathered. A purposive sample is when the observant selects a participant based on the
34 researcher's judgment (Babbie; 2008). As I continued finding participants, snowball sampling was an especially useful technique, as homeless veterans are a unique population that relies on communal and informal communication networks.
I utilized semi-structured face-to-face interviews with participants to provide first-hand experiences. The interviews were structured through the veteran's responses to my questions and personal narratives shared. I used the veterans’ personal narratives to guide the interview. The reason I focused on veterans’ narratives is because their stories and challenges illustrate their engagements with various forms of assistance and identify areas of aid that are most important to them. Their responses served as a primary source for my analysis.
Setting
Stand Down Event and Central/Southern San Diego
I conducted four semi-structured interviews at the 28th annual Stand Down for
Veterans held on July 17-19, 2015 at San Diego High School. Stand Down is an annual three-day event that attracts more than 1,000 homeless veterans from all over San Diego
County seeking various forms of assistance. This event is organized by The Veteran
Village Center of San Diego (VVSD). More than 3,000 volunteers put in their time to provide services to these veterans. Some of the free services provided are dental checkups, showers, clothing, meals, and Veterans Court where veterans have the opportunity to see a judge and address, and often clear, outstanding tickets with the
County of San Diego.
35 Stand Down is set up in an open field at San Diego High School with official military style tents that are set up by current service members. The tents are set up in a military style camp all labeled with the phonetic alphabet. Many of the local and federal government agencies and non-profit organizations set up shop and provide services to veterans. The Department of Veterans of Affairs caseworkers were there helping veterans navigate through their claims filing process while Salvation Army and the
Goodwill provided clothing to veterans.
When I attended Stand Down on July 17, 2015, I started by volunteering on a
Friday. I was instructed by an event coordinator to help pick up trash on the ground and replace all the trash cans with new bags and leave the old trash bags aside for someone with a cart to pick up. This provided me the opportunity to walk around and talk to people informally, passing out my information sheet to recruit potential participants to interview. After I passed out the information sheets, I told those interested that I would be around in the afternoon to conduct interviews at their convenience. That afternoon
Stand Down had a concert, which made it impossible for me to have a conversational interview and record with the loud environment. I rescheduled many of my interviews for the following day. On Saturday morning the weather completely changed and it began raining hard. The people that I scheduled to interview that day informed me they had to reschedule because they needed to leave the event early to look for shelter. Not everyone attending Stand Down was staying in the tents. Some people only showed up for the services and left after the services providers left, typically staying between the hours of 9AM to 5PM. I asked one participant why he did not like staying at the Stand
Down site, and he mentioned he did not like that the showers were dirty and that some
36 people staying in the tents brought all of their belongings, which made it uncomfortable for others. Two people I spoke to shared that they would rather sleep in the streets than stay in the tents. However, that morning people that were staying in the streets were forced to look for emergency shelter until the rain passed. After the rain passed, I was able to speak to some of the people that stayed in the tents.
During this event I was able to complete four informal interviews, but because of the harsh weather conditions and veterans looking for resources, I did not want to inconvenience veterans or take time away from their interactions with resources. The unexpected rainfall caused many veterans that were not staying at the Stand Down event overnight to leave the event early to wait in line at emergency shelters to try to reserve a bed for the night.
The rest of the interviews happened in various locations around the city, the majority in Balboa Park and Downtown San Diego. In Balboa Park, I located participants in the outskirts of the museums and main gathering areas. The participants I spoke to stayed in the vicinity of Balboa Park but purposely stayed in larger grassy areas across the street from the park or near clusters of large bushes.
They utilized bushes, trees, and other plant landscaping for privacy and to hide their belongings from being stolen or targeted by police. In the downtown area, I located participants near Petco Park stadium that is on the same street as several large homeless shelters. This is also the area being targeting by the homeless sweeps and anti-homeless rock landscaping. The referrals I received from participants took me up and down this street and to neighboring sections of downtown.
37
Participants
I asked that the participants choose their own pseudonym. Two of my participants chose similar pseudonyms of “John Doe.” I distinguished the data from these participations by altering their pseudonym to John Doe 1 and John Doe 2. The rest of the participants chose pseudonyms that were not similar and were left as is.
Mr. S is a 60-year-old white male who trained military policy dogs in the Army. He left the Army with an honorable discharge I spoke to Mr. S at Stand Down when I was walking around collecting trash. I noticed Mr. S was the only individual who had dogs inside the camp. All other dogs were isolated near the entrance in kennels. Mr. S had two Chihuahuas on leashes and was taking them for their daily walk. I approached Mr. S and asked if it was ok to pet his dog. He said “oh yeah!” He told me his dogs are registered service dogs and so they were allowed to roam freely with him. Mr. S reminded me of a construction worker. He was wearing heavy-duty construction boots.
During the interview Mr. S explained to me that after the Army he was working in the construction industry but the work took a toll on his body and he could no longer continue that field of work.
Atreyu is a 58-year-old Latino veteran who has been homeless on and off over the years. He picked “Atreyu” from the movie, The Neverending Story because he says the film reminds him of his life. He is originally from Orange County in California. Atreyu was stationed at Camp Pendleton at one point and after his honorable discharge he
38 decided to stay in San Diego. I met Atreyu at Stand Down One afternoon when all the service providers had left. I saw Atreyu walking around admiring state flags that were displayed at the event. Atreyu was an infantryman in the Marine Corps and got out with an honorable discharge.
Big Black- Is a 55-year-old African American male from Texas. He was homeless in his home state and decided to move to San Diego because he heard great things about the way homeless veterans are treated in the city. I don’t know why Big Black picked that name but I am guessing it was because of his race and size. Big Black was around six- foot and 250 lbs. I Interviewed Big Black at Stand Down while he was waiting for his tent to be called so he could get in line for the chow line (lunch line). Big Black was not staying at Stand Down but was issued a tent and cot (a portable military style bed). Big
Black was there mostly for the services that Stand Down offers.
John Doe 1- John Doe 1 is 52 year-old Latino male. I met John Doe 1 at Stand Down on the last day of the event. I was walking around having a conversation with another individual when the person I was talking to said “he would love to help you out” and pointed directly at John Doe 1. John Doe 1 wanted to use his name but I asked him to pick a pseudonym and he picked John Doe. John was an Air force veteran who was originally from the east coast. John Doe got out after four years with an honorable discharge. Doe 1 explained that he was homeless in the east coast but he wasn’t getting any help. He said being homeless in the East Coast is miserable. He said he chose to travel to San Diego because the majority of the time the weather is good and without a
39 place to stay indoors weather is a major variable that determines happiness or misery.
John was the only interview I was not able to complete because he told me he had to go finish packing. Everyone had to leave the event by 6:00 PM.
I interviewed all four of these participants (Mr. S, Atreyu, Big Black, and John
Doe 1) at Stand Down. All four participants told me that they had some sort of housing available. Mr. S, Atreyu, and John Doe 1 were all staying a St. Vincent De Paul in some sort of traditional housing. Big Black mentioned to me that his caseworker had just told him that he had been approved for the HUD Veteran Assistant Supportive Housing
(VASH) program. At the time of our interview he was looking forward to exploring the assistance options this program provides.
Red- is a 56 year-old white male. I met Red one day when I was walking through St.
Vincent De Paul. I saw him smoking a cigarette and asked if he knew any homeless veterans. He explained to me that he was one. I proceeded to ask him if he would mind answering some questions. Red picked this name because he said that’s what people used to call him in the Marine Corps. Red used to be a drill instructor and was stationed at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) in Old Town. Red and his brother are both homeless and living at St. Vincent De Paul. Red told me that his parents died a few years ago and it was really hard for him. He has struggled to get back on his feet since this loss. Red takes care of his brother who suffers from mental illness and is also a veteran.
40 Cpl Tutu- I met Corporal Tutu at St. Vincent De Paul. Red introduced me to Cpl Tutu. I saw Red for the second time a week later sitting on the curb smoking a cigarette outside of St. Vincent De Paul. I asked him if he knew of any other homeless veterans. As I was talking to Red, Cpl Tutu walked by to say hi to him. Red said to me, “there is a veteran right there.” Red called him over and explained to him what I was doing. Cpl. Tutu is a
63-year-old white male. Cpl Tutu joined the Army out of high school and got out of with an honorable discharge. After a few years he decided to join the Marine Corps and served for another two years. This time he got out with a general under honorable conditions discharge.
After my first six interviews I noticed that I was getting similar data from my participants. At that point, all the veterans I had spoken to were all staying at St. Vincent
De Paul. I wanted to venture out and look for veterans that weren’t receiving the same type of shelter service. I wanted to hear from veterans who might have a different perspective. I decided to venture out and walk around East Village. I brought some water bottles to carry in my back pack and passed them out to those I spoke to, even if they were not prospective participants.
John Doe 2- is a 54-year-old white male who joined the Navy and was medically discharged after a few years from a military training injury. I met John Doe 2 while walking in the parking lot across from Petco Park, the baseball stadium. I saw him sitting underneath a tree. I approached Doe 2, introduced myself, and offered him some water. I asked him if he knew of any homeless veterans that I could speak to and ask about their experience. He replied with “you can interview me.” After a few questions I
41 found out that he was also staying at St. Vincent De Paul but left during the day because he was a recovering drug addict and there was a lot of temptation. He said the chaos of people screaming and arguing within the shelter is annoying so he tries to separate himself as much as possible by walking a few blocks away and then going back at night to sleep.
Jack- is a 64-year-old white male originally from Riverside, California who was stationed in San Diego after joining the Marine Corps. After his honorable discharge he decided to stay in San Diego because of the weather. Jack was the first veteran I found sleeping on the streets. I met him in the outskirts of Balboa Park away from the museums and attractions. Jack was laying down reading a book.
James Bond- is a 62-year-old African American from San Diego, Mr. Bond was a Navy veteran who got out with an honorable discharge. He picked the name because of his smooth character. I met James on the outskirts of Balboa Park. I spoke to a couple of people and both referred me to a Mr. Bond. As I approached Mr. Bond he was smoking a cigarette at a bench with a suitcase next to him. I sat next to him and asked if I could interview him. The first thing he said is “yes, I will tell you everything.” The one thing I noticed about the interview was that he mentioned to me that he was given a place at St.
Vincent De Paul but did not like to sleep there because of the chaos and he did not like to share a room.
Rimshot- looked like he was in his mid-40.’s He separated from the Army with an honorable discharge in 2005. I met Rimshot at the downtown trolley station. Rimshot
42 had a clean sharp appearance. Before I approached him he was speaking to other people who carried two backpacks and sleeping bags. I approached them and asked if they knew any homeless veterans they could refer me to. Rimshot replied with, “you can interview me, I am a homeless veteran.” Rimshot told me the story of how his mentor and his mom bought him a train ticket from San Francisco. He had not been here more than two weeks and he had a place to stay at a shelter.
Turbo- was the youngest of my thirteen participants. Turbo is a 35-year-old Air force veteran. Turbo, like his name, was very energetic and active. Turbo got into trouble once he was in the military and was charged with Article 15- destruction of government property. I met Turbo in the outskirts of Balboa Park. Turbo introduced me to Toby-
Wan.
Toby-Wan is an older veteran. Toby did not disclose his age because he said he lost count. He explained to me that after a certain age there is no point in counting. When I met Toby he was sitting in Balboa Park. He had set an umbrella like the ones people take to the beach. The umbrella was anchored down protecting him from the sun. As I approached him Toby, he was playing with a smart phone. I asked him what he was watching and he said it was a “Sanford and Son.” I asked him how he charged his phone and he pointed me to his solar panel recharger. This charger looked like an IPad. The charger was propped up pointing towards the sun while the cable ran to his smartphone.
Toby served in the National Guard and got out with a dishonorable discharge. Toby-
Wan picked the name inspired from the character from Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
43
Stinger Gunner – is a 47 Year-old African American male from Ohio. He joined the
Marine Corps after high school. Stinger Gunner chose the name because of his occupation in the military. He was the operator of the stinger missile. During his service he was criminally charged for selling drugs and subsequently kicked out of the military with a dishonorable discharge. I met him downtown and we talked outside his tent that was set up on the sidewalk.
Interviews
The thirteen semi-structured interviews that I conducted took place on different days. I passed out information sheets about my research, explained the interview process to those interested, and scheduled meeting times with those who agreed to participate. I then explained to them that I would wait for them in another location nearby determined by the type of space and location they indicated as feeling most comfortable. I proceeded to explain the details of my research again and answered any questions they had regarding confidentiality or my own credentials and background. I then asked if it was ok to record the interview. Once the participant agreed to the interview, I notified him that I was going to turn on the recorder. After we conducted the interview, I ended by asking if there was anything the participant wanted to add or elaborate on. Once the participant completed his last comment, I turned off the voice recorder and thanked him;
I then gave the participant an envelope with a thank you card and ten dollars. After the interview was completed I labeled and wrote down any remaining notes that I had during the interview.
44 For interviews conducted after Stand Down I walked around different areas of
San Diego where I had witnessed or heard of homeless gatherings. I first started by walking around in areas were potential participants gathered. I then approached individuals introduced myself and informed them about my study. Everyone I spoke to was extremely nice and generous. I sat and talked with different individuals before asking them if they knew of any homeless veterans they could refer me to. The majority of the time people would say, “No sorry man, try over there,” or, “yeah. I am one,” or,
“talk to so and so, he stays in that area over there.” After I identified a potential veteran to interview I explained who I was, went through the information sheet, and I asked if they would like to participate in my study by contributing an interview narrative. The majority of the time people accepted right away. A few times, they did not have time right away but were willing to reschedule for a future date and time. Once someone agreed to the interview I asked the participants to suggest a place they felt comfortable to talk for the interview. I asked them to provide a pseudonym to protect the confidentiality of their identity; these pseudonyms are referenced throughout this study.
All of the men I interviewed were at one time service members with the United States military. The participants represented four out of the five branches of the military, to include the Air force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. I did not interview anyone that served with the Coast Guard. All of the participants I interviewed identified themselves as veterans. I defined veterans as an individual that at one time served in the United
States armed forces.
My status as a fellow veteran made it easier to speak to other veterans because I could relate to many of their military references, nicknames, and culture. The veterans
45 expressed feeling more comfortable speaking to another veteran, and this may have contributed to the detailed and open responses from participants. The information may have differed if the interview was conducted by a non-veteran researcher. Interviewing homeless veterans in the city where I live was difficult for many reasons. Engaging with the veterans through deeply personal conversations and regarding serious topics that they feel strongly and passionately about was a privilege as a researcher. I appreciated the welcome extended to me by the participants and respected their individual stories and experiences. Due to the nature of the interview questions, the personal stories shared, and the reality that I had to leave after the interview finished, knowing that there was no immediate fix to improve their situation was overwhelming at times. For this reason I often had to take time in between interviews and prepare physically and emotionally to hear someone else’s journey and struggles.
The interviews demonstrate there is a multitude of state, city, military affiliated
(such as Veteran Affairs), and community organizations (non-profits, churches, individual and philanthropic efforts) attempting to fill this gap. It has become apparent that even with good intentions these efforts are coming up short. Lack of communication between resource providers emerged as a common thread in the interviews that discussed the failure of organizations to work together on issues they support separately.
FINDINGS
The themes materialized after identifying similar keywords, stories, and patterns of struggle and geography. The themes serve as a frame for the findings and structure the knowledge provided by the veterans in order to validate and prioritize their experiences as primary sources for evaluating homeless veteran support services in San
46 Diego. After completing the interview process, I coded and looked for initial themes in the data. It became clear from the interviews that while the veterans expressed a sense of respect and appreciation for the VA’s efforts, they provided their own direct and indirect evaluations of various programs and practices that they find troubling or helpful.
In what follows, I report the results from interviews with homeless veterans concerning their experiences as they navigate and negotiate homelessness and related services in San Diego. First, I would like to discuss the significance and impact of participant’s military training and service on their homeless experience. It is important to understand that military training has in some ways helped participants negotiate their daily living arrangements. The majority of veterans I spoke to mentioned their boot camp experience in order to share how they were trained to “adapt and overcome,” and connected this training to their perseverance with the homeless experience. Like the participants, this short phrase, “adapt and overcome” was continuously engrained in my head through physical training, superiors, and the military culture throughout my own boot camp experience. Starting with the initial boot camp, we were trained and required to live out of our bag. We were told we had to adapt to unexpected and frequent mobility in order to stay one step ahead of the enemy. Living out of our bag, including the quick and efficient packing up, minimalist supplies, sleeping outside, on the ground, and in any weather condition, was reinforced as key to survival and mission success. When I deployed as a tank crewman I remember we would go on missions that would last from a few days to sometimes weeks in the middle of nowhere, setting up an Observation
Position (OP) and living out of our bags. I would go days without a shower because there was no access. I had to ration my food because I knew it was all I had to eat for the
47 rest of the day or week. I learned to only pack what I need, to watch other’s back and take care of one another, and to air out my socks after a long day so that they did not stink. I became comfortable with the idea of using the restroom outside when there was not a restroom available, using baby wipes as toilet paper, and using a “Gatorade” bottle as a “piss bottle” if you could not leave your position. I touch on these points because throughout the interview process I noticed many of the participants always refereed back to their training to adapt and overcome in some shape or form. They referenced creative strategies for living on the streets that were directly and indirectly connected to the training and experience they received through the military. Even though they are separated from the service, these connections make it clear that for these veterans, their training and military mindset to “adapt and overcome” stayed with them long afterwards. In sum, they have applied the “adapt and overcome” training to life on the streets in interesting ways.
GETTING OUT: NEGOTIATING A LEAVE FROM THE SERVICE
Leaving the Service
I had to wait around for like two weeks for my last paycheck to come in, so I can get home. – Turbo
After leaving the service many service members move back to the city or stay in the area of their last duty station because they do not want to go home. They experience
“home” in a new place where they established their military lifestyle. Many feel conflicted about what to do and where to live after leaving the service because their new understanding of “home” does not always include a support system outside of their duty station. Feelings of connectedness, pride, and responsibility associated with their
48 experience living on the base can be difficult to negotiate as their access to the base and their military identify shift post-service.
Discharge Status
I won’t get it upgraded because it just doesn't happen, because of the bad conduct. - Stinger Gunner
Veterans discharge status played an essential role in determining their access to services as well as their comfortability and likelihood they would share their veteran status with others. When a military member leaves the service they are given a discharge status. There are five types of ratings applied when separating from the military:
• Honorable is when the service member received an excellent rating at the time of discharge and is eligible to receive full benefits. • General Discharge is when the service member is satisfactory but the individual failed to meet all expectations of conduct. Veteran under this status may be eligible for some benefits. • Other Than Honorable (OTH) discharge is also considered a General under Honorable Conditions. In some cases, the service member may lose benefits like the GI Bill if given this rating. In some cases, a General discharge can be lifted to an honorable discharge. • Bad Conduct Discharge (BCD) this discharge the service member loses the majority of veteran benefits. • Dishonorable Discharge is the lowest rating the veteran can receive and will result in disqualification for all veteran benefits. They lose all veteran benefits and may find trouble finding employment.
(The Military Wallet 2016)
The veterans that received a dishonorable discharge were least likely to tell someone they were a veteran because they anticipated negative responses that would portray them as not a “true veteran” or a “failure” and thus unqualified for veteran services and the recognition that goes with the veteran status. Their status also determined the likelihood that they would wear military related apparel. Those with an honorable discharge status wore camouflage pants, shirts, hats, or shirts with military
49 affiliated logos, units, or symbols. The veterans categorized themselves according to their discharge status and length of time served. These factors seemed to influence how connected the veteran felt to their veteran status, influencing feelings of pride, embarrassment, or shame. Participants indicated they self-censored and/or did not disclose veteran status because they worried about being judged and profiled as undeserving of the status “veteran.” deservedness.
Stinger Gunner explained how he’s tried to upgrade his status but was told that upgrading a Bad Conduct discharge rarely happens. Upgrading his status is important because when applying for benefits through Veteran Affairs they will look at his status to assess if he qualifies for benefits.
I tried to upgrade my status (discharge), but they said there is a 95 percent chance that I won’t get it upgraded because it just doesn't happen, because of the bad conduct.
People do not realize that a mistake at a young age can have costly effects years after they left the service. Someone with a bad conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge will have a difficult time finding employment post-service. Once one leaves the service they are classified with a status of either a good and deserving veteran or a bad undeserving veteran status. This classification takes place through the assignment of discharge status. A discharge status can significantly impact the service member’s experience and transition to civilian life as well as influence how they navigate their own veteran identity and impact how they navigate homeless resources, too.
San Diego – America’s “Friendliest” City?
I just got to San Diego on the first of this month- Rimshot
50 Weather was one of the most frequently cited reasons for deciding to come or stay in San Diego. Participants referenced the sunshine, living near the beach, and made connections between the climate and anticipated military friendly environment, citing expectations that the good weather and numerous bases would equate to a welcoming and easier experience. Some veterans arrived by train, bus, and car. Four of the 13 participants were born in San Diego and stayed for similar reasons.
One participant, John Doe 1, said he drove to California from Ohio after his mom died, searching for warmer weather and healing. When he arrived in San Diego, he ran out of money and couldn’t afford to move around and eventually couldn’t pay for gas to move his car. One day his car was towed and he couldn’t afford to get it out of the tow yard. John Doe1 sought homeless services at a local non-profit organization that allows him to sleep there at night but he leaves during the day because of the “chaos” and “drugs everywhere.” John Doe 1, says he’s a recovering drug addict and staying at the shelter brings too much temptation, danger, and unwanted chaos to his life. He also struggles with mental health issues that he was aware of before joining the military and the environment of the shelter is too stressful for him.
Big Black says he came here because he heard San Diego had a lot of programs for homeless people in general but for veterans especially
I came here four years ago…what brought me here was there is a lot of programs. Different types of programs. One’s that give me a place to live. Recently they just started giving veterans shelter and stuff like that.
Rimshot arrived here by train and was encouraged by others to come to San
Diego for the resources. Both his counselor and mother thought that it was a bad idea for him to stay in San Francisco and bought him a train ticket to San Diego. He had heard
51 good things about San Diego being a military friendly town and decided to make the move.
I just got to San Diego on the first of this month. My mentor from my church wanted me to get off the streets and stop doing drugs. I was freezing, I was dirty, and I was disgusting. I was a true drug addict in the filth of my addiction. And my mentor from my mother’s church paid for Amtrak ticket to come down here. Cuz he grew up here and knows what the city is about. My sister was in the Navy; she was stationed out here with her husband. My best friend was in the Marines he was stationed here. They told me what it’s about. So I knew a lot about San Diego. And I figured with the good weather and with a bunch of military people around it seemed like a good move.
Rimshot showed up with nothing but an extra change of clothes. He explained to me that within days from his arrival he had a place to stay at St. Vincent De Paul.
Stinger Gunner joined the Marine Corps right after high school and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. While serving, he got into trouble and was dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps two years later. Stinger Gunner currently sleeps in a personal tent on streets in downtown San Diego. The discharge statuses for both Stinger Gunner and Rimshot mean that their experiences as homeless veterans are different. Labeled a deserving veteran, Rimshot, who just arrived to San
Diego sleeps at St. Vincent De Paul while Stinger Gunner, an “undeserving” veteran, who has lived here for more than ten years sleeps on the streets.
San Diego hosts a great variety of sports and running events throughout the year thanks to reliable sunshine and miles of coastline and hills. San Diego hosts approximately 34 million (San Diego 2016) tourists each year. Along with that, San Diego host dozens of races that run throughout the city. Tourists travel to San Diego to partake in these events that depending on the length of the course, generally require large
52 sections of the city streets to be blocked off, traffic rerouted, and sidewalks cleared for runners, bikers, strollers, and pets. This adds an additional challenge for homeless veterans.
Especially when they have these special events going on and runs and you have all these people coming here to park and they walk by and give you this snotty look…you know and it's like I am just here with a backpack. I am not bothering you.- Turbo
The influx of tourists and locals running the streets sometimes off the beaten path in order to close as few streets as possible takes them near homeless camps and brings more visibility, forcing some to leave the area, move their belongings, and avoid the space until the event is over. While these races typically have clean-up crews, they only pick up a fraction of the wrappers, paper cups, and other trash left behind by the participants. For Turbo and many others, the San Diego weather brings additional challenges when it comes to year-round special events, tourists, and street closures.
LIVING OUT: NEGOTIATING THE STREETS AS A HOMELESS VETERAN
Trust in the Veteran Community: Legitimating Knowledge
Through word of mouth…- James Bond
One of the most significant patterns that emerged was the organic homeless veteran community that circulated information about resources, news, politics, laws, and other services. There was a heightened sense of legitimacy if information came from another veteran. The most frequently cited forms of information flowing through the veteran communities was the reviews of VA services, community resources, and changing information about “drivebys” coming to the area. These channels of
53 information played an instrumental role in determining what services the veterans would seek out and who they would trust.
James Bond attributes other homeless veterans for keeping him updated with information about good programs.
Through word of mouth! It's not advertised as far as veterans is concerned or even I don't even know where all of the services are - James Bond
In the next quote, John Doe 1 points to how he learns about the program but also describes what the requirements are for participation.
Sometimes we will be sitting around drinking a beer and one of the guys will say my buddy went through that program and it was ok or other times they will tell you yeah but they only take veterans that have PTSD, they give you the 411, you know - John Doe 1
This insight is important because it demonstrates the ways veterans exert their own agency to share resources with one another. Veterans expressed higher comfort levels sharing information regarding PTSD and mental health status with other veterans instead of with resource providers, law enforcement, and medical personnel. The word of mouth strategy mitigates experiences and feelings of criminalization by discussing, referring, and evaluating resource opportunities among veterans familiar with their situation.
There is no one-stop shop for veterans to get all the resources they need in one location.
The most efficient and credible method is through word of mouth among veterans.
Here, Rimshot provides details on his experience within the homeless veteran community in San Diego.
San Diego offered the cream of the crop because of the multitude of veterans. Just having that many around. I have not rubbed elbows with this many veterans my entire life…A dude gave us a ride who was in the Navy currently…These veterans see the soldier in me they look at me and
54 they say oh man that’s one of us… You know and so that’s the beautiful thing it has been fantastic and beautiful
When asked about finding services, Big Black emphasized that by talking with other veterans, he can find out useful information faster than if he were to navigate the process on his own.
It's like a needle in a haystack. You have to talk to other vets and they will tell you. We might be sitting around and drinking a beer and they got help from this program. Why I never heard of this program and bam that's how we get help. Before getting my DD214, it took me ten years to finally get them, before that All I could do was give my social security number out. Like I said we were in a group and this guy told me, man look you go down here to headquarters here in San Diego they will give you your DD 214 in 20 minutes. So it took me a week to believe what he was saying. So I decided why I don't go down there and went down there and it took twenty minutes. And I fell in love with that place.
Here, Big Black references a DD-214, an official military discharge document. This document includes the length of service, date of entry, date of separation, discharged status and all awards earned. The DD-214 is required to access VA services and serves as the only official proof of military service and veteran status (DD214 2016). Several veterans indicated they faced long-term challenges accessing their DD-214 forms, which prevented or delayed their access to services. For those with an “other than honorable” discharge however, this form served as evidence that they were not qualified and thus undeserving of VA services.
Big Black is not alone in this assessment. From the interviews, veteran-to-veteran referrals emerged as positive and more reliable sources of information as perceived by the veteran community. Veterans were more likely to express positive feelings about a resource or program if referred by another veteran.
55 James Bond remarked that he appreciated the way Stand Down centralizes a wide variety of services, which leads to assistance reaching the veterans faster.
There is a lot of networking. So and so is doing this or doing that and of course with Stand Down that helps a lot because it's all in one place
Another exciting theme that emerged was community relationships. Throughout the interview process the veterans made reference to their ‘group,’ ‘community,’ ‘people,’ and ‘other vets,’ in describing their relationships with the VA and other resources. This focus on their preference for word of mouth and related responses illuminated the myriad ways they envision their communities.
Veterans knew where other veterans liked to hang out and where they did not.
They knew where, when, and who came to certain locations to provide food and services and coordinated with others to access the services, sometimes taking turns to watch each other's belongings so they could leave without their belongings getting stolen or taken away by trash collectors or homeless camp sweeps.
When asked about daily challenges, James Bond and others shared that managing and protecting his belongings as he moves around to avoid harassment and tickets is a daily struggle. James Bond rolls around a suitcase that holds all his belongings. The wheels on the suitcase make it easy to carry and move at a moments notice. When veterans decide to seek out resources that require traveling outside of their immediate area they worry about where they can safety secure their belongings. Many avoid traveling for this reason. Several participants remarked that the veteran community looks out for each other when it comes to watching another’s belongings.
56 This is a crucial form of community building that centered on the trust participants seemed to feel for other veterans.
Solidary in Strangers: Communities of Kindness
I love seeing that because that’s one of the services that's better than going to an agency -Stinger Gunner
Another form of community identified was comprised of strangers passing out food, clothes, and toiletries out of the kindness of their heart. Delivering these resources out of kindness without institutional backing, funding, or expectations operated as inspiration and fueled hope for many veterans. Rimshot sees the beauty in local community collaborations and the kindness of strangers with no organizational affiliation. He is appreciative of the generosity of strangers and their willingness to build forms of community with him by sharing food and music.
A biker group came by yesterday and had a BBQ. They weren’t with a church or anything and they brought their beautiful Harleys and everything. They had beats going. They threw a block party. Its just people with hearts I mean San Diego is blowing my mind. I have never seen more people help and so easy going. With such a great attitude and they are not doing it because they have to.
Rimshot recalls a memory with a biker group hosting a block party. It is worth noting that a block party also occurs outside in the streets and sidewalks and did not require
Rimshot to travel anywhere or go inside a church or other building. This method for providing support and building community outside is important to themes of outreach and solidarity because the majority of veterans interviewed referenced feeling unwelcome in the majority of indoor or enclosed spaces as well as having to carefully
57 navigate outdoor spaces and private property. As I was interviewing Stinger Gunner, he pointed me to this group of women with tote bags handing out clothes to other homeless.
Look over there. See, that’s what you call a drive by, they hand out stuff. I love seeing that because that’s one of the services that's better than going to an agency and saying oh yeah, we will help you. Don’t call us, we will call you.
Stinger Gunner’s description of the mobile resources that travel by car as “drive bys” was striking. Typically the phrase “drive by” is used to describe a violent shooting taking place from a passing vehicle, sometimes targeted and other times random. Stinger
Gunner’s version of a drive by is positively enchanting because here the usual violent reference is replaced by acts of kindness and generosity that are welcomed and appreciated.
It is important to note that although acts of kindness are perceived as generous and helpful, veterans experienced these as supplemental but not abundant enough to fill broader needs for long-term survival. Red cites food as a resource that is always available if one is actively seeking it, but recognizes that surviving on such resources can still be challenging because it depends on what area one stays in and the schedule of churches and nearby “drive bys.”
Well the Weather is one reason and two, you can’t go hungry in San Diego if you do it's your problem. We have too many churches around there and areas where you can go and get groceries and you have churches what they call drive by.
This observation, that although resources are available the feasibility of engaging with those services on a regular basis varies depending on various factors, emerged as a pattern among participants. This speaks to the frequently referenced contradiction of San
Diego possessing “military friendly” qualities yet producing a large homeless veteran
58 population, as well as the seemingly vast amount of services but gap between providers and consumers.
Roofs and Rules: Insights on Shelters
Even though homeless shelters provide a roof over one’s head many participants do not appreciate the strict regulations and rules required to receive shelter. These regulations discourage some participants from seeking shelter from providers.
They need more homeless shelters like PATH and its pack solid and they do take in people and you can get housing off the streets, but I have my girl and everything and they separate you and you know that kind of sucks. The first day of the month and you go down there fill out a bunch of paperwork and then they tell you if they have room, but they separate you and that something we don’t want that. Every night she sleeps right next to me. –Turbo
Turbo does not like to be away from his girlfriend. He explained that he likes to sleep next to her to provide protection and comfort. So he is selective about what services he engages in San Diego because he said some services disrupt his family connections and require him to stay apart from his girlfriend. Turbo wants to stay at local shelters but he says their gender policies that separate him from his girlfriend are why he does not go anymore.
One particular shelter it’s a bible thumper and literally you can't leave for two months, and they have scheduled smoke breaks. Nobody wants to do that it’s almost like prison, it’s a two month program, two months before you can leave. –Turbo
In addition to shelter rules about who the veterans are allowed to stay with, some of the shelters also have other rules that some of the participants found too restrictive, such as how long you must stay in the facility before being allowed to leave. Several
59 participants referenced selectively engaging support services depending on the perceived level of disruption to their family lives and social circles.
Addiction was cited as a main reason veterans did not seek out or want services from a variety of homeless shelters. Stinger Gunner says addiction plays a huge role in determining what support services he reaches out to because many environments actually make his recovery more challenging. According to Stinger Gunner, two downtown San Diego shelters always have drug dealers on the corner preying on the steady flow of people coming in and out of the nearby shelters. During the interview process I frequently witnessed drugs in plain sight around San Diego. At one point, while conducting interviews, a well-dressed male walked by and asked if I wanted to make 600 to 800 dollars a night. Although I did not follow up with this offer, a participant hinted that people offer drug dealing as fast ways to make money. Drug dealers cannot freely go inside the shelters so they hire other homeless to bring in the drugs for them. Stinger Gunner tried to avoid that environment.
Veterans Affairs
The VA won't even talk to me because of my discharge –Stinger Gunner
Their discharge status, honorable or dishonorable, and the length of time served affects veterans access to veteran services. Veterans that have honorable discharges find it easy to get resources as opposed to veterans with dishonorable discharges. Turbo pointed out that he had been denied services because of his dishonorable discharge status. Others also felt their discharge status was a significant factor in determining their access to
60 services, the quality of treatment and level of respect they encountered, and also affected how likely they were to seek future services. Because a veteran’s discharge status impacts their ability to access support and services this contributed to different interpretations of “deserving” and
“undeserving” based on the response the veteran receives from the VA when seeking support whether in the form of services of money. If a veteran is told by the VA they do not qualify for services, this restriction can be internalized as not deserving of support because of discharge status or lack of time served. As the interviews reveal, discharge status sets up their experience after separating from military service and being denied VA service can contribute to difficulty adjusting to civilian life because of lack of support and feelings of undeservedness. Participants who received other than honorable discharge status expressed difficulty embracing their veteran status whereas those honorably discharged did not express this concern.
The VA won't even talk to me because of my discharge. They want two years and I don’t have it. I am pretty much screwed through social services through the VA.
Here, Stinger Gunner shares his reason for stopping interaction with the VA. He indicates he has been shunned from the VA because of his other than honorable discharge status. His language and tone of feeling “screwed” through the VA connects to feelings of betrayal for service and sacrifice he gave to his country that was also referenced by other participants. In this way, the veteran identity becomes more complicated because their experience as a “veteran” does not match with the “veteran” affairs signifiers of deserving service. These differing interpretations of what veteran
61 means, and what veterans deserve clash and make visible the otherwise invisible complexities of nation building and identity with the VA refusing to claim and service those that fall below a certain degree of veteran-ness and deserved-ness.
Here, Stinger Gunner elaborates further on this veteran status and identity conundrum.
I don't go through the VA for veteran services, they can look me up and see that I am a veteran but you’re not eligible for VA benefits because of the type of discharge.
And here, he recounts his last experience seeking assistance with the VA and trying to upgrade his discharge status to a higher status so that he can qualify for benefits.
I tried to upgrade my status but they said there is a 95 percent chance that I won’t get it upgraded because it just doesn't happen. Because of the bad conduct. It has to be seen in front of these Colonels and that's a lot of shit on my plate and I am not going to go through all that.
Going through the VA and military procedures for securing or applying for benefits and service can bring back unpleasant memories for the veterans and it can be something they want to avoid although, especially if they anticipate they will experience feelings of shame or embarrassment.
I feel positive that there are a few of them out there that is helping. And I feel bad about that it should be more because we fought for this country. Why would a person fight for a country and come back to nothing? And have to go through all of this. I am speaking for the guys back in Nam and you know all back in those days. Because the guys that fight now in the Iraq war they get benefits. We are talking about the ones back then. Before that even happened. It's hard on them. That's really hurts me you know. It really hurts me. A lot of them have bad medical needs. No arms, no legs and got orange what do they call it? –Big Black
Below, Jack indicates that the centrality of events such as Stand down surpass efforts by the VA to address veteran needs. Transportation and time were indicated as factors participants took into consideration when deciding to engage a formal or informal
62 service. Most preferred services that came to them because they struggled locating spaces in San Diego where they could exist without harassment and leaving those spaces subjected them to more struggles. Deciding to travel to engage a service provider meant usually allocating several hours at the least, and many indicated that wasting time to receive subpar or no support after traveling was a recurring concern.
I go to the VA medical center in La Jolla and for me with no car and city transportation that is an all-day event.
Turbo said that every Friday a van from the VA parks in front of street x and parks along the fence line.
Every Friday morning they come out set up tables with donuts and coffee, they try and sign up veterans.
What Turbo refers to here typically occurs around Balboa Park and Downtown San
Diego. Both VA and community services set up canopies and tables to conduct outreach and provide homeless veterans with information about services. This outreach aims to sign up qualified veterans for services if they have not already, and provide snacks for those that stop by. Veterans will decide to interact with these outreach services depending on who is hosting the outreach and their prior knowledge of the provider and services.
Non-Veteran Affair Resources
I couldn’t get EBT for the longest time- Stinger Gunner
Cpl Tutu says local churches coordinate their outreach efforts to make the greatest impact.
Here there are a few churches around that help you out. The second Saturday that church might help you out one week. The other might help
63 you another week. Churches pick out one day a week to help you out. They coordinate with other churches too. One church will feed you one day another will feed you another day. They coordinate that way. Instead of two feeding on Monday and no feeding on Wednesday they split it up. To make sure everyday some food arrives.
Here, Turbo shares his thoughts on San Diego services:
The County office (is useful) because they keep me with my food stamps and Medical, not my favorite place to go but they help keep my life running.
Turbo was not the only participant who felt that way. Stinger Gunner, also expressed similar feelings. However, Stinger Gunner states that he was unable to receive some services for a while because he was criminally charged for selling drugs. The law that prevented those with a criminal record related to drugs has since eliminated that restriction and he says he now benefits from food stamps.
I couldn’t get EBT for the longest time. I had a sales (selling drugs) case. So I couldn’t get them. If you have possession of drugs you can still get them but if you have a sales you couldn't. I had a sales for so long I couldn’t, but they changed the law last year and that has helped me a lot.
What Stinger Gunner refers to above is the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), the current version of food stamps. Food Stamp participants do not use the old method of paying with physical stamps anymore. Instead, the County of San Diego now places the value on a debit card. The same rules still apply; you must only use it for food and cannot purchase unauthorized items with the card.
Stand Down was mentioned several times as the most helpful and anticipated event and resource service offered throughout the year. They enjoyed Stand Down because they had a secure place to sleep for the weekend, they could take care of tickets all at once through the on-site veteran court, and engage with various resources without needing to travel. They can also bring family members, dependents and pets without
64 hassle. This created a safe and welcoming environment where they felt they were
‘escaping’ life on the streets, if only for the weekend.
Stand Down was the only place that I felt safe for three days. We had showers and you had meals and clothing and the whole nine-year yards. Employment services and any type of medical. And the organizations out there they come to this once a year event. We need to find and have a coalition to come in there every six months. –Red
HIDING OUT: NEGOTIATING DANGERS AS HOMELESS VETERANS
Dangers of Homelessness
We don’t tell people where we sleep because that’s kind of, I don’t know cuz you going to tell your enemy where you sleep? – Toby-wan
Another common theme participants shared was the dangers and vulnerabilities prevalent when living on the streets. Toby-Wan referenced a military defense strategy of never telling the enemy where you sleep and never turning your back on the enemy when it comes to keeping his sleeping location and habits a secret.
We don’t tell people where we sleep because that’s kind of, I don’t know cuz you going to tell your enemy where you sleep?...it’s dangerous to sleep out here. Well getting gas poured on you and light you up. They do that at Ocean Beach. You ever heard of that? Oh yeah. That happens everyday. People come beat you up. Just cause they don’t know you. (Chuckles) I have been kicked a couple of times. Just by laying on the sidewalk. For no reason at all.
During the writing of this study, I heard on the local news about a homeless individual ignited on fire by a stranger and burned alive while sleeping in Ocean Beach, the same way that Toby-Wan described it in our interview. While initially listening to Toby’s story I was surprised I had not yet heard of such an incidence given the violent and horrendous nature of such an act, but perhaps I was not listening or looking. These attacks are not unique to San Diego, a similar incident occurred in Ventura Beach
California in January 2015, but confirms patterns of violent treatment to those living on
65 the street and placed in vulnerable situations in public. The setup of these attacks preys on this vulnerability of lying asleep and defenseless on a public street in the dark (Daily
Mail 2016).
Anti-Homeless Policies vs Ending Veteran Homelessness
There is really no place for you to just hang out downtown and that’s why I stay at the
park- Turbo
While much attention has recently been given to homeless veterans in the local and national media, political campaigns, as well as state and city planning, this coverage usually follows the same script that depicts the existence of homeless veterans as contradictory to the “American Dream” and “Un-American” for the country to not immediately remedy the problem. But how does homeless veterans as an issue get framed as a problem, and particularly one that conjures up feelings of crisis? Slogans have emerged such as “Leave no one (or man) behind”, “Ending Chronic Homelessness in 2017” (United States Interagency Council on Homelessness 2016). These new slogans have been coupled with recent funding initiatives geared to support ending veteran homelessness.
“Housing our Heroes” a program from the city of San Diego aims to house 1,000 veterans by the end of the 2016 by providing 12.5 million dollars in funding to provide housing opportunities. This campaign was spearheaded by San Diego Mayor Kevin
Faulconer’s who won unanimous support from city council that approved the partnership with San Diego Housing Commission and Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“This vote shows that San Diego is united in tackling the nationwide problem of veteran
66 homelessness head-on. Every hero who has served our nation deserves the chance to live the American dream,” (The City of San Diego 2016) Mayor Faulconer said “With this funding, we’re going to work with landlords to open their doors to homeless veterans and then provide the financial assistance and supportive services to make sure they don’t end up back on the street. Thanks to the leadership of the San Diego Housing
Commission and the partnership with the Regional Chamber of Commerce and
California and San Diego County apartment associations, we’re going to make a big difference for our veterans” (The City of San Diego 2016). This campaign is the fourth new initiative of “Housing First San Diego” part of the San Diego Housing Commission
(SDHC) landmark three-year Homelessness Action Plan that launched in November
2014 (San Diego Housing Commission 2016). This “Housing our Heroes” initiative emerges at a time when homeless encampment sweeps are increasing and coincidently or not, timed alongside with the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star game hosted in
San Diego on the weekend of July 12, 2016. The city is ramping up for an influx of tourists to the Petco Park stadium downtown, which sits next to a recently opened downtown library that provides free internet, seating, books, and resources and has been a favorite hangout for homeless since it opened. Outside of the library and a block away from Petco park is a new line of tents and make-shift shelters that line the fence. Many of the occupants were previously staying several blocks away before they were targets of the sweeps. It is important to note that homeless persons are being driven away through various anti-homeless initiatives, the most recent and controversial, is anti- homeless landscaping under overpass bridges where homeless are known to stay. At the time of this writing, the city is currently installing jagged rocks cemented under the
67 bridges alongside the sidewalks where homeless usually sleep on the incline between the sidewalk and bridge wall. The uneven and pointed rocks resemble landscaping installed to prevent birds from landing in certain spaces. The city is spending approximately
$57,000 to install the rocks and it’s pushed the homeless to the outskirts of downtown
(San Diego City Beat 2016). Many have moved to the tops of the bridges that connect downtown with nearby neighborhoods. Life on these bridges puts them in limbo with the downtown area pushing them away and the nearby neighborhoods not wanting homeless to infiltrate their communities. Moreover, while new initiatives claim to address veteran homelessness by “housing heroes” this leaves “dishonorable” heroes, and non-veteran homeless scrambling and harassed by anti-homeless initiatives. For many of the participants I interviewed who received other than honorable status, they are at the intersection of these policies and experience these initiatives in unique and conflicting ways.
In addition to anti-homeless landscaping, homeless sweeps have been increasing in San Diego. The city says complaints about trash and hazards around homeless encampments are leading to expanded clean-up operations. Homeless advocates see the efforts as something else: criminalization of homelessness.
When sweeps take place they are given 72 hours to vacate the area of the planned sweep and must gather their things and move or face fines, have their belongings taken away, confiscated, or thrown away. They are being pushed farther and farther away from the city and distanced from immediate resources like drive-bys and churches. This tactic scatters homeless individuals and communities away from veteran and homeless resources and discourages them from returning. Mayor Kevin Faulconer says his focus
68 is on connecting the homeless with housing rather than booting them from downtown
(Public CEO 2016). “We don’t have a strategy,” said Angela Colton, a deputy director in the city’s environmental services department. “We are responding. We are definitely in a reactive mode” (Public CEO 2016). These sweeps impact the general homeless population and disrupt veterans’ routes and access to services. The sweeps are enforced with lines of police patrol cars and officers and are impacting larger sections of San
Diego, including multiple blocks at a time. Some homeless say the sweep notices go up and no one shows up, serving as a tool to threaten those living nearby. In recent press releases, city officials juxtapose the sweeps with the “Housing 1,000 Heroes” program and reiterate that the mayor “is not concerned with cleaning streets” but getting homeless into housing. Although this specific tension of homeless sweeps occurring alongside a housing homeless veteran campaign was not directly addressed by participants, participant responses and the themes that emerged from our discussion illustrate that this irony of funds being allocated for purposes that seem contradictory
(kicking homeless, including veterans, off of the streets while simultaneously placing homeless veterans into housing) is a misguided strategy.
Here is Stinger Gunner speaking about the homeless sweeps
Twice a month for sure. Which is something I expect. During the week they come during the morning and wake you up. They put up signs 72 hours before they do it. Cuz that gives you time to get all your stuff together. Cuz they can’t come and say ok clean up. They are not allowed to do that by law. They have to give you a 72-hour notice and post them up.
While the homeless sweeps currently underway in San Diego are cited by the City of
San Diego as a direct response to increased complaints about trash and waste surrounding homeless encampments, several participants emphasized their own
69 strategies for “keeping clean” as to avoid further harassment and criminalization. Many said they pack up their sleeping bags, blankets, and other belongings early in the morning and hang out at the park during the day. They were hyper conscious that as homeless they were profiled as associated with trash and waste and actively tried to counter these stigmas.
In the middle of our interview Toby-Wan excused himself to use the bathroom, however he didn’t go anywhere. After I paused my recording device, he brought out a
Gatorade bottle wrapped in a cloth. He twisted the cap off, leaned forward, let his jacket hang over the bottle and began to urinate into the bottle. He then explained that he learned some tricks from being in the military. Using the restroom takes on a different meaning when you don’t have access to a restroom and will quickly be fined for urinating or defecating in public. Toby-Wan explained that using the bathrooms at the parks could be dangerous. He said people go there to do drugs. He shared his other strategy for when nature calls.
Well I have bags for that too. Paper or plastics. See (he points to a bag full of plastic bags). Plus you don’t want to leave it anywhere people can step in it. You have to be clean.
Every veteran interviewed indicated daily struggles and obstacles trying to find places and spaces where they wouldn’t be harassed for standing, sitting, or lying down as well as places where they would not be “in the way” or “bothering” other people. It was interesting that they experienced these different body positions, standing, sitting, and lying down, according to how they perceived they would be profiled and subsequently criminalized by a ticket or warning from police as well as “nasty looks” from tourists.
70 Turbo feels parks offer one of the few spaces he can just hang out and exist without being hassled or criminalized.
There is really no place for you to just hang out downtown and that’s why I stay at the park.
Parks are popular spaces for homeless veterans because “it’s out of sight out of mind.”
Parks are one of the few spaces where it’s socially acceptable to roam around, lay in the grass, and there are no expectations of needing to spend money in order to stay for long periods of time. There are also bathrooms, water fountains, lots of space, and shade if there are trees around. San Diego’s famous Balboa Park is a popular place for homeless veterans to gather because of its expansive layout and veteran support services that come to the park with food, coffee, and information about resources. In Balboa Park is the
Naval Medical Center San Diego, more commonly known as Balboa hospital because of its location. It serves the majority of local military families and offers some services for veterans although the main hospital that services veterans is the Veterans Affairs hospital located 15 miles north in La Jolla.
Although there are various military connected buildings and organizations
(bases, hospitals, Veteran Affairs affiliated offices) the veterans I spoke to stay near these areas more so because they knew community organizations would come to those areas rather than because they felt they could access veteran resources through official military channels or services. This provides useful context for understanding why veterans gather in certain spaces at specific times and days of the week. Additionally, it sheds light on the types of spaces that make them feel most safe, comfortable, happy, and which areas they strategically gather in order to be close and accessible to support services.
71
Criminalization of the Homeless
They can't get blood out of a turnip. – Toby-wan
The various engagements between homeless veterans and law enforcement provides useful insight into how the veterans negotiate different power relations now that they are on the other side of enforcing the law and providing safety. During their military service they were tasked with providing local and national security service and now they structure their daily activities around avoiding encounters with city police officers. Here, Turbo and Toby-Wan recalls his experience with law enforcement.
Sometimes they just tell me you can’t sleep here you have to go, other times they’re here specifically to write tickets. - Turbo
The police- they love to come wake you up at night and give tickets. - Toby-Wan
Here, Turbo and Toby’s quotes illustrate their response to experiences sleeping on the streets and extensive criminalization for it. Toby-Wan says, the police “love” to wake him up, insinuating that they enjoy the action of bothering and ticking those not committing a crime, but sleeping. This speaks to others responses to unnecessary harassment practices that do nothing more than make it harder to find and maintain a sense of safety and stability. Undisturbed sleep is a luxury when living on the streets.
Turbo expressed his frustration with his encounters with law enforcement. From these conversations, profiling and criminalization by police contribute to feelings of insecurity and danger.
Turbo and other veterans share similar feelings regarding frequent criminalization tied to their homeless lifestyle. As Turbo explains, he feels he is targeted
72 for harassment and fines because he is homeless not because he is committing a crime.
His response is to ignore the tickets.
All the tickets they give me are infractions, they don’t go to warrant because they don’t have time for em. And the jails are too full to screw with them and so they go to collections. My credit score is in the dump hole anyways. But anyways I just go to Stand Down and they just wipe them off my record.
He goes on to explain that he brings his girlfriend to Stand Down so she can get assistance with her tickets as well. Through this service, he feels as though Stand Down takes care of him and his partner by assisting with this continuous obstacle.
I take my girl too they take care of her too (Stand Down). They take care of her warrants.
As stated by Turbo, he and others disregard any tickets they accumulate throughout the year regarding vagrancy or public violations (such as smoking, loitering, and overnight camping) because they know they can take care of them at Stand Down faster, and have the opportunity to have some, if not all, dismissed.
Turbo touches on a common theme among the participant responses that framed tickets, fines, and warnings as harassment that only criminalizes their outdoor, mobile lifestyle and lack of housing. Several participants stated that the tickets are pointless because they can’t afford the fines anyway and the process to pay or fight the tickets takes time, travel, and effort that they would rather spend in other ways.
I have five tickets, right now, this year, since Stand Down. Two for sleeping, one for drinking and two for smoking a cigarette.
The tickets pile up, and depending on the type of infraction cited, failing to pay a ticket can result in increased penalties and even a warrant that can justify arrest and jail time.
These forms of ticketing were framed by participants as pointless, wasteful of taxpayers
73 money and law enforcement times, cruel, and creating unnecessary obstacles and stress for the veterans because they must always be on the lookout, protecting their belongings, and warning other veterans of planned or approaching ‘sweeps’ by the police. These worries shape their everyday lives and impact their navigation and negotiations with San
Diego homeless services. Toby-Wan says tickets are a common way to criminalize his everyday living scenarios.
I got a bunch. I got a stack of them. I don’t worry about it. They can't get blood out of a turnip. I am struggling to pay rent here and they're going to call me downtown and say you owe us this much for smoking. For sleeping on a sidewalk. That adds up too. Hell, I can't even pay rent. How am going to pay for this how am going to pay them for that. They’re just wasting their time. Well they have too. Because the taxpayers pay them so much money already, they are already paid to go out. So they already got their money.
Atreyu touches on another theme that homeless encounter when dealing with law enforcement.
First of all when a unit shows up they are going to ask you do you have a felony warrant whatever. That shouldn’t be the first thing out of their mouth. They should step out of their unit or units and ask you how can they assist us.
As made clear in these narratives, the types of harassment and stigmas experienced by the participants take many forms.
In addition, there is widespread stigma associated with homeless individuals and consuming alcohol or drugs because addiction is frequently cited as a contributing factor that leads to situations of homelessness. This is not however the case for everyone.
Turbo reflects on his experience consuming alcohol when living on the streets.
There is no place to drink and yeah there are designated drinking areas in the park in the center of the park. There is like five lawns where I can drink between 9 and 8 P.M. but I don’t want to go down there. I am
74 homeless, people give me weird looks plus that place is like a mile away I don’t want to walk all that way just to have a beer when I can drink right here.
James Bond never felt he was profiled by law enforcement and had little experience with police in general before being homeless. Now that he is homeless he is categories as a criminal.
Before I was homeless I never had a criminal record now I am a criminal.
Bond’s narrative illustrates a response to his recent criminalization that he experiences as deeply connected to his homeless status and reflects trends in homeless experiences in
San Diego. He labels himself as a “criminal” because of his criminalization that he attributes to his homeless status, which demonstrates the internalization of negative stigmas and frequent engagements with law enforcement.
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE VETERANS
In this section, I share some of the recommendations that veterans shared with me. I incorporate their analysis, reflection, and suggestions in order to validate their experiences as individuals and as a community, in hopes of bringing positive change and deeper understanding to various issues affecting their lives.
Toby-Wan desired to have more accessible employment opportunities that would not discriminate based on his homeless status. When asked how organizations should try to end veteran homelessness, Toby-Wan emphasized his own eagerness to find work. He found it uplifting and beneficial when organizations matched him with mobile employment opportunities that were accessible. He says providing outlets for veterans to earn income while on the street is key to helping them create stability in their lives.
75 That’s a good question. Just, a way to make money. If an organization comes in and they put up a car wash. I go work for it. I go wash a couple cars for money. I used too when I was on the street.
When asked about the new housing first initiatives, John Doe 2 shared his perspective on the effectiveness of this approach. John Doe 2 is a white male who joined the Navy but was medically discharged after a few years.
No. No they got to go inside of the head. They got to counsel these people. You can put them in a house okay, how long is that going to last? They are going to end up coming back out. We need counseling. More counselors out here, you know. What do they call them -- these mentors, social workers. Yeah they come out and really actually monitor and counsel these guys. That will help. That will help a great deal a lot.
John Doe 2’s parent died shortly after and he had a hard time coping with this loss. For
Doe 2, psychological trauma played a significant role in his assimilation and coping process. The different strategies for addressing veteran homelessness approach the priorities of veterans differently. As Doe 2 mentioned here, one approach is a more comprehensive counseling method that matches veterans with counselors, social workers, and/or mental health treatment to try and get at the root underlying causes that contribute to their homelessness.
Increased access to basic health necessities and restrooms was a major recommendation. Some veterans reported that they had access to bathrooms at nearby parks however, for veterans that stay in urban areas; access is harder to come by. It is common place for buildings and businesses to boast signs that warn “customers only.”
Here, Stinger Gunner addresses the plethora of portable bathrooms or “porter johns” as they are called in the military, present around the Petco Parking lot. This lot is surrounded by homeless encampments and shelters nearby.
76 Nope, they got no bathrooms here. If you see porta johns it’s because they have an event and they will lock them at night that’s the only reason they are here. And that's a shame because I have to use the bathroom. You don’t want me to pee outside but you got these port johns that are locked.
I walked over to the nearby portable bathrooms around the stadium after our interview. I counted 15 and all were locked.
Analysis and feedback of formal and informal services was a frequently cited theme among participants. Veterans willingly shared their opinion on flawed aspects of service structures, where funding is allocated, and commented on ways to improve services as well as what they found most beneficial. Here, participants reflect feelings on various aspects of veteran homeless services in San Diego. Red whose parents died and now is receiving supportive housing from St. Vincent De Paul suggests that there should be more one stop shops like Stan Down. Here, he calls for services to come together and conduct outreach related services more frequently. He expressed feeling as though Stand
Down was a glimpse of something great, and that if reproduced throughout the year or used as a model for a permanent support center it would provide homeless veterans more accessibility to resources they eagerly want.
That way we have a place to stay for three days, meals of course, and all of the resources available in one place to us instead of going let's say from one place and you are stuck down here in the bottom which is St. Vincent de Paul to go all the way up to La Jolla how are you going to get there? Walk? The transportation services needs to be upgraded too as far as helping a service man or veteran to help them get to their needs. To a hospital which is their… that's the main hospital for veterans. And we don't have right now a bus pass. So what do you do? You suffer on the streets.
Homeless veterans face unique challenges with mental health and overall health and well-being. As mentioned in the literature, veterans struggle with transitioning from a career and lifestyle that requires extreme discipline, provides a reliable pay-check,
77 operates through clear power hierarchies, and brings potential exposure to traumatic experiences and memories to living on the streets. Not being able to keep a job, PTSD, effects of new or long-term mental illness, and addiction were cited as issues contributing to their homelessness but not necessarily the only factor. Throughout the interviews, participants directly and indirectly referenced issues of health and overall well-being in connection to how they experience homelessness as a veteran. Here, the patterns that emerged throughout the interviews informed the theme of mental health and well-being.
Turbo’s mental health is impacted by several challenges that he does not directly attribute to his military service although he feels his experience in the military and on the streets has only exacerbated his underlying mental health issues.
I’m mentally ill. I do see a psychiatrist. It’s really rough out here. I have my moments. Anxiety, ADHD, depression and so… It’s really hard to cope and I have been out here five and a half years… it’s kinda getting old.
FINAL THOUGTHS
Don’t judge me for being homeless – Stinger Gunner
As I concluded the interviews I always asked the participant if there was anything they wanted to add. The majority of the time my participants replied with “No that’s it” and ended that interview. A few spoke about their struggles and talked about how they want to get off the streets but expressed the challenges with their vision for their future. Stinger Gunner shared that he worries about judgment. He asked me to share with others that he does not want people to judge him or anyone in a similar situation.
78 To not judge. Don’t think of me as another homeless veteran that doesn’t want to do anything for themselves. Yes, I do want to do something for myself. Don’t judge me for being homeless.
Stinger Gunner has a dream of writing his life story in book form for people to read. He is hopeful that sharing his story will increase understanding and support for people like him. I would like to end with Gunner’s dream of writing his life story. Regardless of institutional labels and status, veterans and all homeless in general should not be treated as lacking or underserving of health and happiness. They are people living life with hopes and dreams. No veteran that I spoke to expressed that they enjoyed living on the streets or wanted to continue being homeless, although this is a lifestyle choice for some homeless individuals. Regardless of lifestyle, judgment in the form of anti-homeless policies, campaigns, and criminalization should be recalibrated to shine light on the systematic and institutional injustices and flaws that contribute to the larger issues encouraging homelessness.
PUBLIC POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
As the literature and interviews suggest, housing homeless individuals and connecting them with a stable place to live should be a top priority, however a roof alone cannot remedy the deeper issues that contribute to homelessness. We know by the amount of homeless that we have in San Diego that this process will take time to employ. Supporting homeless veterans with case management services and support to include long-term counseling are part of a larger equation that can more authentically address homelessness as a local, national, and structural issue. Several veterans interviewed in this study disclosed they made some mistakes that caused them to get
79 kicked out of the military and did not know those actions would have long-term consequences that would cause them to lose access to veteran benefits in the future.
Navigating the tensions produced by the military’s different discharge status options will certainly continue to create obstacles for those veterans. Unless serious efforts are made by the VA to address the needs of veterans who currently do not qualify for services because of length of service time or discharge status, there will continue to be this subgroup of unqualified and undeserving veterans that will be negatively impacted by this fragmentation of deserving versus undeserving signifiers. While a veteran’s discharge status is not the single underlying cause of homelessness, this study illustrates it can have a big impact on their experience. The results of the interviews conducted for this study demonstrate that veteran’s feelings of deserving or undeserving of veteran status and related benefits as determined by the VA directly impacted general feelings of status, identity, and worthiness that the literature demonstrates can play a central role in adjusting to civilian life after service, especially when interwoven with other veteran specific traits and conditions. While a discharge status appears on the surface to be a systematic evaluation for separation, the veterans illustrated it had more profound and long-term effects on their lives that are not accounted for in the literature or VA services. These implications and effects are indicators of gaps in scholarship.
Future scholars, policymakers, and military service providers alike should consider this gap seriously when assessing approaches to address veteran homelessness.
The city should provide homeless with restroom access and private businesses should rethink customer only restroom policies to increase community sustainability and responsibility. The porta johns at Petco Stadium parking lot should not be locked during
80 away games or in the off-season. People need to use the restroom and it is cruel to host
15 portable restrooms in the center of the largest concentration of homeless individuals who lack safe spaces to use the restroom.
We should stop citing people for sleeping in the park. Money and government resources are grossly mismanaged and wasted towards these efforts that criminalize sleeping outside of a house. This normalizes one lifestyle and criminalizes another. As the participants demonstrate, there are more critical issues to address then sleeping outside. The individuals that get cited cannot afford to pay and veterans that get cited go veteran court and remove the citation off their record. These criminalization practices are unnecessary and wasteful.
Homeless veterans were more likely to use a facility if they felt safe and if they were allowed to bring their family or community members with them; such as a partner or pet that they did not want to leave behind. Additionally, many shelters had many restrictions about scheduled smoke breaks. Shelter providers should take these recommendations seriously to assess ways of incorporating positive community building and support into their program strategies.
Shuttles for transportation that is able to pick up people from places where participants regularly hang out. Additionally, a safe space to secure belonging while participating in transportations services would alleviate worry and increase the likelihood of veterans seeking services away from their immediate area.
CONCLUSION
81 When people talk about ending veteran homelessness they often fail to recognize that these conversations leave out a group of people that consider themselves veterans but do not qualify for benefits. They struggle under the radar because they do not qualify as veteran ‘enough’ to receive assistance. Moreover, participants that left the military with an honorable discharge or served more than two years in had more success accessing veteran services and support. Veterans that received a discharge other than honorable reported a harder time accessing resources. Through the interview process I slowly realized that there was another type of veteran. A subgroup of veterans that had joined the military but realized that the service was not for him or her and did not complete the full length or terms of their contract.
Furthermore, by rendering homeless veterans experiences legitimate and important, their perspective provides information for the development of strategies that help fill the gap in the literature for understanding how they navigate support and services and develop their own forms of community. Better understanding how veterans form community as they navigate homelessness can help service providers engage with their constituents more authentically and shape their strategies according to veterans’ needs. This approach could provide significant improvement in increasing veterans’ comfortability, trust, and likelihood to engage with support services as well as incorporate direct feedback from their experiences to improve the quality of interactions.
It is important to listen to the stories of veterans to understand the root of the challenge from individuals who live and experience homelessness and veteran status.
Policies from politicians are set from the perspective of an outsider who believes they know how to fix the problem. If we continue to ignore stories from individuals who are
82 living this reality, then we will never be able to help homeless individuals get back the resources they need to live healthy and happy lives. The aim of this research centered on creating conversational opportunities to engage veterans and transcribe their personal narratives to illuminate the challenges homeless veterans face as they navigate through resources in San Diego County. This approach works to fill an important gap between social services and veterans homeless. A driving question that drove this project was:
How do veterans navigate and negotiate homelessness and related services in San Diego
County?
In 2017, when President Obama’s new benchmark goal to end veteran homelessness is reached, there will still be veterans that are not qualified for benefits because they did not complete minimum service time requirements or received an other than honorable discharge, leaving them in this state of veteran limbo without access to veteran resources. According to existing funding criteria and service models, these individuals are classified as unworthy of veteran related benefits. This constructs an interesting value system of veteran status according to length of time served and discharge status. Future studies should also consider: What qualifies as valued and valuable service? Who is considered worthy of veteran services? What do we mean when we say we want to end “veteran” homelessness?
In conclusion, the results of this study puts pressure on the category of “veteran” and question assumptions that veteran is a static signifier with universal meanings. As the narratives derived from the interviews make clear, the veteran experience varies from person to person and is interpreted differently by military and government institutions as well as community members and service providers. By taking seriously
83 the knowledge provided by these and other homeless veterans, significant improvements can be made through the strategies, funding, programs, and treatment directed towards addressing their struggles at local and national levels.
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