Members of AMVETS Post 10 donate money to help local homeless veterans

July 30--CHEYENNE -- When Tristan Jackson stepped inside his new apartment Friday, he said he felt relief he hadn't known in years.

"I was just like, 'Wow -- this is really, really nice,'" he said Wednesday as he looked around his new apartment.

Jackson was homeless for two years until Friday. He then moved into a tidy, clean apartment in Cheyenne.

"I don't know how to explain it," Jackson said as he recalled his emotions about being off the streets. "Have you ever been so worried about something and all of a sudden it's lifted off of you?

"It felt like a cross I'd been carrying for two years was taken off my shoulders. I felt like I could breathe, like I was somewhere safe," he said.

Jackson, a U.S. Navy veteran of Operation Desert Storm, has a 100 percent service-connected disability. He also has experienced bouts of post-traumatic stress disorder, among other issues.

Members of a Cheyenne organization called AMVETS Post 10 reached out to help Jackson and other homeless veterans here recently with a donation of $11,000.

The group gave the money to Community Action of Laramie County, which operates a homeless shelter in south Cheyenne for military veterans.

Community Action works to eliminate poverty through education and crisis intervention.

The donation paid for new wood flooring and installation at all four apartments for homeless vets. It also paid for bedding and bathroom towels, pillows and other related items, said Joy Reed, a member of AMVETS Post 10.

The money came from a 50/50 raffle organized by AMVETS Post 10 through a Queen of Hearts game. The game ended with a $35,000 jackpot; half the money went to the winner and the other half to local charities. The homeless veterans shelter received some of this funding.

Jackson is one of eight homeless veterans who live in these clean, updated apartments in Cheyenne.

With his short hair and clean-shaven face, he looks like someone who just finished playing 18 holes of golf instead of a homeless man. But he lived on the streets of Salt Lake City and Phoenix for two years, as well as in Cheyenne for a while.

Thanks to Community Action, he now lives in transitional housing for homeless vets. The program's goal is for veterans to get into their own places.

Community Action operates the Laramie County Veterans' Homeless Program, a federally funded grant per diem program, said case manager Susan Brown.

The installation of new flooring makes a huge difference in the apartments, Brown said. "This came clear out of the blue; we did not know they had picked our agency," she said.

The federal program requires veterans who take part to work or help out in the community. They receive intensive case management training in topics like how to manage money.

Residents at the homeless veterans shelter help maintain the property.

Veterans are encouraged to get jobs. But if they can't work and have no income, they volunteer 10 to 20 hours a week with Community Action or another nonprofit agency.

"We have a very high rate of success," she said. Since January, 75 percent of the veterans completed the program and live on their own.

Brown commended the work of AMVETS' members in Post 10, calling their efforts amazing.

"The AMVETS are extremely generous," Jackson said. "There's a saying among veterans about veterans taking care of veterans. It's a rule."

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