For many Vietnam veterans, the fight didn’t end when they came home.
“I joined the military in 1969. I’m a Vietnam vet,” Willie Stanley recalled. “I’ve struggled with substance abuse for years, on and off. I’ve been in and out of homelessness for over a decade. I pray this time is the last time—my health isn’t what it used to be.”
His story is familiar to many. Veterans experiencing homelessness often face a host of barriers to health care—transportation challenges, no phone or computer access, and sometimes not even an address to receive prescriptions. For many, the only option is the emergency room, which fragments care and pushes them into crisis more quickly…