By Josh Williams
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — He survived two tours in Iraq, an addiction to cocaine and mental illness. But Billy, a 25-year-old Army veteran, now faces his hardest battle: staying clean and off the streets of Manhattan.
“I told them I was depressed and suicidal, and they didn’t do anything,” said Billy, who asked that his last name not be used. He said he became addicted to crack cocaine during his second tour in Iraq, and withdrew from the Army to avoid being court-martialed.
“Maybe if they had helped me there, things would be different, but who really knows?” Billy said.
Billy is one of the 48 people currently taking shelter at Samaritan Village, a halfway house and treatment facility in Midtown Manhattan serving the homeless and those with substance abuse.
The not-for-profit program has emerged as one of the main support networks for the estimated thousands of homeless veterans in New York City. According to the city’s Department of Homeless Services, more than 2,000 homeless veterans sought help at one of the city’s shelters between 2008 and 2009. That’s compared to the estimated 131,000 homeless vets nationwide.
Now, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has announced a plan to put an end to veterans sleeping on the street, aiming for zero tolerance within five years. They’re relying on established places like Samaritan Village and the New York City Rescue Mission, America’s first homeless shelter, to help them with that mission.
“The V.A. doesn’t see itself as the be-all and end-all. We want to work together with the other programs in the community to help end veteran homelessness,” said Steven Bailyn, co-chief of Community and Social Services for the V.A.'s NY Harbor Healthcare System, Manhattan branch.
For many of the homeless vets, the path to Samaritan Village or the New York City Rescue Mission began with a prescription drug for a military injury, such as Oxycodone. When their service ended, so did their prescriptions, leading them to spiral out of control, they said.
Roger Walker, a Veterans Outreach Specialist who works at Samaritan Village, spends his days searching for military veterans in the court system, city jails and detox clinics, and steering them into Samaritan Village.
“Veterans are a different population, no doubt. We are talking about men that have a certain degree of discipline,” Walker said.
But Walker said some rehab facilities may not be equipped to handle the unique blend of issues that veterans bring.
“Some people are working with someone that might be a little bit out of their scope,” Walker said.
For Derek, a U.S. Army veteran who says he has been clean since coming to Samaritan Village nine months ago, the facility is the first place he’s found any success.
“I didn’t really work on any issues that were deeper than just putting down the drugs,” said Derek, who asked his last name not be used. “I didn’t really address the issues, there are more vets here that are my age and I feel more comfortable addressing my issues.”
At the New York City Rescue Mission on Lafayette Street, eight of the 68 homeless men seeking shelter say they are veterans, mostly from the Vietnam era, according to spokesman Joe Little.
“It’s a hard nut to crack, the human condition. The brokenness and the repercussions of dealing with war, we see it here everyday,” Little said. “We here at the New York City Rescue Mission have been here since 1872 working with veterans with the same problems they had back then.”
Trevis, a 50-year-old Navy veteran who stays at the Rescue Mission, considers his time in the service the best times of his life. His weathered face lights up when he talks about his time working on a nuclear submarine during the Vietnam War.
“I felt wonderful, I felt honorable, I felt respectable. I would chop off my left arm to get a third of that back… but I can’t,” said Trevis, who did not give his last name.
But he said his life collapsed when he returned home and found himself on the streets. Until he found the Rescue Mission, he refused to ask for help, saying he wanted to handle his problems himself.
“I never contacted the V.A. or the Navy when I became homeless, I just wanted to figure it out on my own.”
The VA’s plan to remove all veterans from the street faces resistance from some veterans, who have yet to seek shelter at any of the city’s assistance programs.
Gregory Sloan, 62, lived on a ship while serving in the Merchant Marines from 1965 to 1972.
Now he lives on the streets of Manhattan, preferring to sleep in a movie theater over the city’s shelters and VA hospitals.
“I suffer from PTSD and claustrophobia. I don’t want to be stuck on some bed and take a bunch of pills in a hospital,” Sloan said.
