Cherokee County Homeless Veterans Program

Homeless Veterans Do you know who they are and what they have done

I ran into this website and its videos and have to remember that when you encounter a homeless Veteran just who they really are or what they did. I recall talking to one of our local Vietnam Veterans who upon returning from Combat and getting out of the Army found himself homeless. He now runs and has for year run a successful business here in Cherokee County.

I spend many hours each day talking, listening, helping many Veterans who have been forgotten and are struggling to deal with issues they have encountered as a result of their time in Service and Combat. Rather than look down on these people who are trying to get their life back and return to society walk a mile in their boots.

The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans – A multi-award-winning documentary about homeless American veterans, why they are sleeping on the streets and under freeway bridges, and what we, the A…

Remembering fallen company mates from F2Zoo

Almost 50 years ago 33 young men came to West Point to hopefully graduate the Long Gray line. Over 46 years later those of us who graduated together from F2 "The Zoo" still stay in touch via different ways. Sadly two of our classmates and friends are not with us and as this Memorial Day brings me to remember them with tears in my eyes.

Doug Renbarger and Drew Harrington graduated with the other 31 members of F2 and struck out to tame the Army. Drew was the first to pass during a jump with his Ranger team and Doug left us years later post-retirement in a fire trying to save his pet.

I will forever remember both of them and hope that we will meet again years from now. God Bless both of you and thank you for being part of my life.

Veterans and the 24 month Rule for Military Service.

Another Veteran has come up under the 24 month time in service question and currently is being told he does not meet this rule. He currently is being treated by the VA medical under "Humanitarian" status.

The 24 month rule is out there and there are exceptions to this rule that override the 24 month time requirement. I am placing information below so that you can understand how to challenge this rule.

Understanding the 24-Month Military Rule

The 24-month military rule is a federal requirement that sets the minimum active-duty service length for certain veterans’ benefits, particularly those administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

What the Rule Means
Under 38 U.S.C. § 5303A and 38 CFR § 3.12a, if you:

Enlisted after September 7, 1980 in a regular component of the Armed Forces, or

Entered active duty after October 16, 1981 without already completing 24 months of continuous active duty,

you must serve at least 24 continuous months of active duty, or the full period you were called or ordered to active duty — whichever is shorter legalclarity.org+1.

If you fall short of this requirement, you generally lose eligibility for VA benefits based on that period of service LII / Legal Information Institute.

Who It Applies To
Enlisted personnel who joined after September 7, 1980.

Any service member (officer or enlisted) who entered active duty after October 16, 1981 and had not already met the 24-month threshold LII / Legal Information Institute.
Exceptions
The 24-month rule does not apply if you:

Served before September 7, 1980 — even a single day of active service can count if your discharge was acceptable legalclarity.org.

Were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable (e.g., hardship, early out, disability discharge) Veterans Affairs.

Were discharged for a disability caused or worsened by service, or for hardship/early out Veterans Affairs.

STUDY SHOWS 100% SC VA DISABLED VETERANS CANNOT QUALIFY FOR ANY/NONE OF THE OVER 10,000 APARTMENTS IN CHEROKEE COUNTY AND MOST LIKELY ANY OTHER COUNTY. WHAT IS WORSE IS THAT OUR STATE GOVERNMENT FAILED TO SUPPORT THESE VETERAN BY NOT MOVING ON THE "HOMES FOR HERO'S BILL.

Last summer and continuing today, our program has met with and talked to every apartment complex in Cherokee County and due to the 3:1 income to rent ratio EVERY 100% SC disabled Veteran does not make enough income to apply for any of the over 10,000 apartments.

In our study that is published on our website https://www.cherokeehomelessvets.com/ every apartment complex now utilizes 3rd party companies for processing applications. After you put in the cost of the apartment the second question is "How much to you Make". When these Veterans put in that they only make $3,983 per month they then get notified that they are not approved due to not meeting the 3:1 income to rent ratio.

We had attempted to put a bill through Jason Dickerson that would allow these disabled Veterans to qualify at a reasonable 2:1 rent to income with the stipulation that the Veteran provide a copy of their VA award letter verifying their level of disability. THIS BILL NEVER MADE IT OUT OF COMMITTEE -

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT OUR STATE LEGISLATURE DOES NOT WANT TO SUPPORT OUR DISABLED VETERANS WHO HONORABLY SERVED THIS COUNTRY?

We are going to again try and get this bill passed but if you get the chance call your state representative and tell them to help our disabled Veterans get the housing, schools, and benefits they deserve and have earned.

How is it that There is no funding assistance for Veteran in a County of 40,000 Veterans and Several VSO organizations and a grantee of SSVF

I have to speak up that currently our program has had 25 calls for financial assistance outside of our county since last Wednesday. In my discussions with these Veterans it seems that the answer is the same. NO AVAILABILITY of FUNDS

I know that Hope Atlanta has cut off all funds since April 13-April 27 to Veterans who need any type of housing or financial assistance . No reason given but how is this allowed to happen?

Other agencies which I can and should name the 7 I have asked about also have no funds to help Veterans in need of hotel stays, rent assistance, car payment assistance, insurance payment assistance. One of the egregious answers I got from one Veteran was that the VSO could not provide any assistance as the Veteran was not a member of the American Legion Post he was seeking funds from. I thought this Post needs member to join and this is a great way to do this.

Many of the VSO organizations also have Bars that would not help. What are they doing with the funds that come from this baar?

This also goes back to the January Homeless Point in Time Count and in June, I will get a sense of how many VSO organizations actually went out to count the Homeless. So far the number is 1 - American Legion Post 45 which covered four (4) counties.

Very Disappointing that we are leaving our Veterans behind as I thought we always had their backs.

Our program is currently housing homeless Veterans, working on their disability claims and keeping families from being evicted. Thanks to our donors who support our programs. By charter we can only support financially those Veterans who live in Cherokee or Pickens County. How is it that a State with only 159 Counties has VSO posts that count more than 300 can't seem to do what is right.

Secretary of the VA - Doug Collins tells Veterans they should not be Victims - Time to call this out.

One of the great pleasures I get from being a Post Service Officer is getting Veterans what they deserve in the way of issue resolution and benefits compensation.

In the past couple of weeks we have done some great things to help Veterans after years of the VA neglect and oversight.

Over a year ago I began working with a 60+ yr old Veteran who has severe health issues that went back over 40 years to neglect of the Army during basic Training. This carried over to the VA on his claims and finally this week after over a year of effort, getting letters to TRADOC for medical records, providing patient records to the VA we got him rated for 100% SC Disability. The VA has come out and said they dropped the ball years ago. This Veteran was on him last few dollars and has severe medical issues. We are now going to file for back pay but he can now rest.

Navy Veteran who in his VA medical files was found to have a MH issue and documented was denied on his VA claim years ago. We found this out as he is a homeless veteran and is going through our 96 hour intake process of which VA records review is part of this. He took the VA letter of denial as a fact rather than figuring out how to fight the VA on their lack of being able to read in clear print that he has a compensable claim. We have also filed for him to get VA medical benefits as he should have had this done years ago. He is also over 60 and tries to live on less than $1,000 a month SSI

Another female Navy Weapons Veterans was found living in her car in one of the Counties cities. Upon working with her, we found that she had a number of claims in the system that had been cancelled due to her not being able to connect with the VA. SHE IS HOMELESS WITH NO PHONE. We refiled all of her pending claims and immediately had her get her CMP exams done. In six weeks from our initial meeting, in working with GDVS we got her to be rated 100% SC.

Last issue is an elderly Army Veteran who after going to a local emergency room was told to see a doctor within 5 days. He is already 100% SC but had not been assigned a P*P. Also after 12 weeks of trying to get a Community Care Referral it was found out that the VA CC team had never been trained on how to do a referral. This happened over 9 months ago and I had been monitoring this from day one. We have filed FOIA's, VAOIG reports and even went to the VA CVEB committee to get the VA to address the issues. WHAT A SURPISE THE VA HAS SLOW ROLLED THIS AND FINALLY HOPED THAT WE WOULD GO AWAY.
Not so - we have filed a medical malpractice suit and I have applied for Whistleblower status to get this out in the open as to why the VA handled this so poorly

So if you are a Veteran and do not want to be a Victim get your local Service officer involved. Also there is no need to get a lawyer involved in your case. None of the ones we noted above involved a lawyer. Also file with your local office of the Ga Dept of Veteran Services - they care.... The VA does not

Today we celebrate our 82nd Vehicle Donation to Veterans in need

10 years ago our program was challenged by a 100% SC Air Force Veteran with a family and home to help him obtain a replacement vehicle for his family to use as his 20 year old truck has just died and was not usable.

What came of our this request was the beginning of the Vehicle Donation program for three (3) classes of Veterans, (1) 70% or Higher SC VA Disabled who cannot afford a vehicle, (2) a Veteran with small children who cannot afford a vehicle or, (3) a Homeless Veteran who needs a vehicle to obtain a good paying job.

The Vehicles we donated have gone to Veterans across the state as long as they can pass the vetting process. Our program has been blessed to have 117 Vehicles donated so far and 84 have made it through our mechanical screening by our Partner Christian Bros Automotive of Canton. The 33 vehicles that have not made it to the donation level have been auctioned off to put money back into our program. Of the 84 Vehicles, we have two waiting for Titles, 77 of them are still on the road. That is over a 93% rate.

This program would not be as successful as it is without mentioning and recognizing those who have donate gently used vehicles to our program. You have given us the gift to help other Veterans, to help Veterans get to medical appointments, to get their children to school, or to get a Homeless Veteran a $30/hr job vs just a $7/hr job.

Next Time when you are thinking of donating a vehicle to a company ask them if the vehicle goes to a general fund or does the vehicle get donated to a person in need. If you find out that it just goes to auction to offset general expenses then give us a call as you not only get a TAX deduction, but you are helping a Veteran who served this country.

10,000 Coats given to Veteran and non-Veterans ahead of the holidays by a Great Team

Several years ago as we started the "Adopt a Vet" program we ran into a Navy Veteran and his family who we were looking to support for the Christmas Holidays. The letter we got from the young daughter once we read it started this whole program. In her letter to us she mentioned that she only wanted two items for Christmas, 1 - picture of her to give to her aging grandmother and 2- a new winter coat as she never had one.

Ice would have melted had we been up north after reading this. Ever since that letter our program with our partners at Arrow Exterminators and the GA Pest Vets organization had done a winter coat drive to obtain coats for Veterans, Veteran outreach programs, schools, and non-Veteran groups who need coats.

Last year, 2024 our program with our partners donated 8,000 coats to those in need to include the VA Homeless Program, two Atlanta Veteran outreach programs, Noth Ga Veterans, Ft Eisenhower, and several groups helping those in Tennessee and North Carolina who had lost everything due to the Hurricanes.

This year, Chad from Arrow set the bar at 10,000 coats and I was not sure it could be done. Covering 12 states and partnering with other Pest Control companies and our program we achieved the goal.

We start the collecting in early September and run through December 1st. Before mid December we sort all the coats and other items that were donated and get them out to the organizations that had requested them. Many orders came to us in the hundreds and one came in for over 4,000. We even though we gave out the 10,000 we still came up about 500 short as we had one group we could not fill and we got a late request from another group.

IF you still have coats and want to donate them we would love for you to drop them by the American Legion Canton Post 45 at 160 McClure St. I want to thank all those that donated as the coats are now being given to those in need ahead of the Christmas cold.

80th Vehicle donated to Army Afghanistan Veteran

Saturday as part of our Breakfast with Santa Program we were honored to provide our 80th donated Vehicle to an Afghanistan Veteran who has no means of transportation.

This is quite a milestone for our program as we are closing in on our goal to provide 100 donated vehicles to Veterans who either are disabled and cannot afford a vehicle, a Veteran with small children who cannot afford a vehicle or a Homeless Veteran who needs a vehicle to get a job.

We started this program 9 years ago and thanks to our community we have been donated over 115 vehicles to date. Not every vehicle makes it to a Veteran in need, and we sometimes scrap a vehicle if the amount of repair is 40% or higher vs the value of the vehicle. The funds we get from scaping these vehicles goes back into our funds for paying for future repairs.

Of the 80 vehicles that we have donated there are 76 still on the road. This is amazing when you realize that most of the vehicles donated range between 150,000 - 300,000 miles.

We created this program as most other vehicle donation programs use the money from auctions to offset administrative costs and there is no attempt to provide any type of vehicle back to a needy person. We just found another way to do it.

If you are interested in donating a well-loved used vehicle that can change the life of someone, please reach out to us as we are a 501c19 Veteran non-profit and can give you a donation for tax purposes.

I want to thank those that have donated vehicles to our program over these years and this Veteran got his Christmas Wish from Santa and we wish him well.

Cherokee County Homeless Program celebrating the start of our 12th year.

On Veterans Day 2014, Cherokee County Homeless Veterans Program was launched with the mission to help our homeless Veterans in and around Cherokee County.

WE started with a some basic goals that we would help any honorably discharged Veteran who was homeless or near homeless. We also set that all of our funds would be used to help Veterans inside of Cherokee County and not try to be all things to all Veterans.

The last of our goals, but rather a commitment was that all of our team would not be paid, rather we would pay it forward. To this day all of our volunteers and staff have do so without any type of financial payment.

We have added several programs and capabilities over the years and have had interactions with over 1,000 Veterans who have been in need of shelter, food, or other services. We could not have done all of this without the support of the community, but also those who do the work behind the scenes.

I want to publicly thank Betty Lewis, Viola Ross, Mary Bennett, Shelly Clark, Cheryl Dana, John Bruss, Mike Satterly, josh Lear, Don Watson, Rob Hilkin and the many others who have made our program such a success. Happy Anniversary to a great team.