Veteran Friends Take Long Route to Love, Family
NOTE: SSVF, or Supportive Services for Veteran Families, is a federally funded program, administered by St. Vincent de Paul and dedicated to getting veterans and veteran families into housing. SSVF then provides the additional support and referrals necessary to ensure long-term housing stability.
My husband and I are veterans who got awesome help through SSVF and had the pleasure of having Tammy Greer as our caseworker.
My husband and I have known each other for 24-plus years, as I was a friend of the family, especially his brother and sister. Around 2003 we lost touch, but 10 years ago his sister and I reconnected.
In 2014 I returned to Oregon to be closer to my own family, and in 2018 my friend “set me up with her brother. Even though he was in another state, we clicked, married, and resolved to live in Oregon.
We returned, having nowhere to live and without jobs, and relying solely on my husband’s VA disability benefit. We learned about SSVF at the VA, made the call, and met with an intake specialist who put us at ease.
After several weeks Tammy called and introduced herself as our case manager. Again, we felt heard, not judged.
Before SSVE, we felt depressed and down on our luck, and we didn’t want to look for jobs while homeless. We were delighted to get into a place, but the neighborhood itself and the property management company were difficult. Tammy stuck by us through thick and thin. Eventually we moved to a better place with improved quality of life. My husband got a good job in security.
I still struggled to find work, but Tammy bolstered my spirits. Just before we exited SSVF I found a job that I loved. Unfortunately, it came right before a series of health problems and surgeries, and another job loss for my husband.
We really struggled, but we kept moving forward. Eventually my husband returned to school and I landed a management job that supported us both.
Now, my husband is halfway through his studies at a well-known school, and I am stay-at-home Mom to two sisters whom we adopted out of the foster system. Our current home has three bedrooms and three bathrooms!
Most importantly, we are happy, contributing members of this community, and we are still moving forward. If it hadn’t been for SSFV and Tammy Greer, we might not have had such success. Who knows where we would have ended up and what kind of people we might have become.
Thank you, Tammy and SSVF, for helping vets who are down on their luck.
For more information, visit the SSVF webpage or Email the Program Manager.