McConnell Airmen, VA, local agencies assist homeless veterans

by Master Sgt. Brannen Parrish
931st Air Refueling Group Public Affairs

4/18/2014 - MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- On a cold, overcast April day, Tech. Sgt. Stephen Hedden and other volunteers are quickly loading the bed of his pick-up with furniture and household items.

Hedden, seven McConnell Airmen and three Robert J. Dole Veterans Administration Medical Center employees, met up at His Helping Hands, a Wichita non-profit that provides household items for individuals and families to load furniture and household supplies.

His Helping Hands is an outreach program of Central Christian Church in Wichita. The non-profit works with local agencies to identify and assist families in need. Items are stored in a 30,000-square foot warehouse, organized in neat but eclectic rows of household furniture donated by citizens from the Wichita area.

"We have three donated trucks that we send out to pick up furniture and household items donated by members of the community," says Jackie Minnis, His Helping Hands warehouse operations manager. "We have several volunteers who will pick up items and bring them here."

When the last of the items are aboard and secured, Hedden, a quality assurance inspector from the 931st Air Refueling Group, climbs into the cab and prepares to depart.
The white script 'A' logo, which signifies his allegiance to a college athletics program, is affixed to the rear, driver's side window but is now blocked by furniture and household goods.

"Roll Tide!" says Hedden, as he shifts into drive and pulls forward.

For the past two years he has helped move veterans in Wichita. In October 2013, he was asked to begin coordinating volunteers from McConnell. Hedden stays in touch with the VA and sends out emails whenever assistance is needed.

"The Air Force encourages us to volunteer and I thought, 'If I'm going to do volunteer work, I want to do something that I can get behind,'" Hedden says. "I have a truck and I believe strongly in taking care of veterans, so this seemed like the best type of volunteer work for me."

On this day, the cadre of Air Force and VA volunteers is moving Albert White into a small apartment. White, a U.S. Army veteran, who says he joined the Army from his childhood home in Natchitoches, La., and served as a communications specialist from 1973-'75.

White says he fell on hard times recently and lost his apartment in Colorado. He moved to Wichita has been living out of his car for more than a month.

"I didn't have any money, so I would park near a wheat field in a remote area at night and sleep in my car," says White. "I didn't want to be where there were a lot of people because it isn't safe. You have to be careful. I camped out in the snow one night and some police officers found me and told me about a shelter. They suggested I go there so that I didn't have to be outside in the snow."

According to the VA website, www.va.gov, the agency served more than 240,000 veterans who were "homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless" in 2012. The site states that the VA identified more than 62,000 homeless veterans in January 2012.

"On average, we see about one homeless veteran a week," says Melissa Hodge, a social worker from the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center in Wichita. "We try to get them into emergency housing when they come to us. We have 15 beds in contract housing, and Housing and Urban Development has another 135."

Hodges, is one of eight social workers at the VA in Wichita. She says the agency is making strides to assist homeless veterans but there are challenges.

"We have to be creative. The biggest challenge is getting them resources and finding a landlord who will work with them," she says. "We work with organizations like His Helping Hands for furniture and household goods, and volunteers from the Air Force, and the other services to get them moved."

About 15 minutes after departing His Helping Hands, Hedden, Hodges and Staff Sgt. Marcus Scott, a maintenance analyst from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, arrive at White's apartment complex near downtown Wichita.

Hedden and Scott grab the futon and maneuver it through the small doorway into a small studio apartment. Hodges begins carrying boxes and other items. In a few minutes the bed of Hedden's truck is empty and the furniture arranged.

"You never know what life might throw at you," says Hedden. "It's hard to see folks struggling but it's good to know this gentleman won't be in the street. I feel like I get something back out of doing this."

"The VA and the military have really helped me," White says, pointing toward the volunteers. "I really appreciate the service."