Group gets grant to aid homeless vets

A Vancouver nonprofit organization has been awarded $173,280 to help
homeless veterans with children.

Pam Brokaw, executive director of Partners in Careers, said the grant
will help the organization move forward on a couple of initiatives. It
started the Veteran Women Program in December, and the agency will be
using the grant money to move ahead on Homeward Bound, a program to
assist men and women who have served in the military.

“This focuses on reaching out to homeless veterans and their
families,” Brokaw said. “The first step is finding and talking with
them; then, assisting them in critical areas like housing, child care,
access to basic services and help with employment.”

Brokaw said they’re finding the veterans by “getting the word out
through different media opportunities, Veterans Affairs, local veterans
organizations. We’re going out into the community and being visible.
This is a good time, with the fair and different community activities
happening.

“This grant has dollars to subsidize employment. Veterans in the
Homeward Bound program will assist us with outreach and will be employed
doing that,” Brokaw said. “That’s a very significant piece.”

Program coordinator Emily Stoutsenberger is a U.S. Navy veteran.

“This is all about vets helping vets,” Stoutsenberger said.

Partners in Careers has been looking at unmet community needs and
underserved groups, and that led to the Veteran Women Program in
December.

“We looked at veterans, with so many of them coming home, and
realized there was not a job program for women vets,” Brokaw said. “Then
we looked at other needs — the growing issue of homeless veterans with
children — and applied for the grant.”

The grant was announced by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. It was
funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, through its Veterans’ Employment
and Training Service.

“I am so glad that Partners in Careers will be receiving this federal
investment to help local homeless veterans get the support they need to
stay off the streets and get their lives back on track,” Murray said in
the announcement.

Brokaw said the effort will include state partners, including
Washington’s welfare-to-work WorkFirst program and WorkSource centers
that offer employment and training services. Local partners include the
city of Vancouver, the Vancouver Housing Authority and Educational
Service District 112, the child care partner.

Partners in Careers also will reach out to local businesses to make
employment placement for homeless veterans a priority.

The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs estimates there
are more than 200 homeless veterans with families in Southwest
Washington, Brokaw said.

“We think it’s probably more,” Brokaw said. “One thing we learned
with the Veteran Women Program, they don’t tend to identify themselves
as veterans.”

Now, “We are seeing more women call us,” Brokaw said, and there is
another reason they expect to see even more veterans.

“A lot of troops are starting to come home and we anticipate an
increase in people calling about our program.”