Keeping the flame alive.

There has been a on going drama that has been going to for a few years. I had been following this but because of the lack of coverage. I am still working on finding out more from them. Here is the short version.

I first heard of this group when I first PCSed to Alaska. They had people that would raise money near the Fredd Myers and had a visible building near Fort Richardson. They were featured on the local news about how they are trying to help the local Veteran community.

Vets Help Vets is in a strip mall just off the Glenn Highway, down from the Whaler Bar and a Hmong grocery. Butler, a middle-aged guy with a warm Louisiana accent, greeted me and photographer Erik Hill as we came through the door and started right in explaining what he was about.

“I tell it like this, ‘It takes a vet to help another vet,’ ” he said. “I’m trying to take care of those that fall through the cracks.”

But the problem is that Butler took off after taking most of the organization’s funds along with the creditability. Since then the group has been trying to repair since.

“Everything was in default. We almost lost the building,” Anderson says. A lack of money left a stack of bills unpaid, rent backed up, and threatened putting people back on the streets.

“Our homeless veterans would have been homeless all over again,” says Anderson.

The alleged incident prompted a complete makeover from uniforms and money management, to selecting new board members. Vets Helping Vets also has a new license as a nonprofit for protection against theft.

That was in September, since then they have had nothing but bad fortune. I know that they had to relocate due to the problems with the previous owner/founder.

Donations are down, and the group is in danger of having electricity shut off Thursday, Sept. 29.

Organizers said a power shutdown would impact their effort to help the hundreds of homeless veterans who walk through their doors with job and education opportunities, and two meals a day.

“We put our guys out on the line for community donations and things like that. The money that comes back in, we turn around and spend it back on the veterans or the organization to keep it up and running,” said Calista Anderson, president of Vets Helping Vets.

Shortly after that the local news reported the video above an the related link. I was very much surprised about their situation. I knew it was bad, but not this bad. Also I think that the fact that I live in Anchorage and still surprised by this. I think that the lack of coverage did not help with this. But I think the main thing that made me want to write this was the following statement below.

But Anderson is working to improve its image.

“Money is being managed well. That’s why we say anyone can come in and check it out,” she said.

The organization continues to feed nearly 20 homeless veterans each night, even without the lights or heat in the building.

The main cook, Marcus Coval, a Navy veteran, says he’ll continue cooking so that veterans can have a little light in their lives.

The group says it’s also considering changing its name and even potentially moving to another building if the situation doesn’t improve.

Which brings us to this post. I do not expect anyone to give money, but if these people are doing so much with so little to help the large number of veterans in need, we should help them out by spreading the word about them. I will try to contact them to see if their luck has turned.

Category: Veterans Issues