http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cMyIz_b0CM&feature=youtu.be
According to The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, eleven percent of all homeless adults are veterans.
Dother Sykes, from Plant City, Florida was a homeless veteran. He lived on the streets since 1989. However, today he resides in a Veteran’s Housing Complex in Las Cruces and no longer has to worry about the dangers of being homeless.
“When you’re living homeless, you got to be watchful. You pick friends real careful, but you always know where you are at,” says Sykes.
Sykes says that his situation changed for the better when he found The Mesilla Valley Community of Hope. He says he built a foundation through the agency’s tent city called Camp Hope, a homeless tent community where he was one of the original members. He recalls the feeling he had when he finally found a secure place in the tent city.
“Now I got a place in Tent City where I can stash my stuff and I know that it will be there when I get back, and so I began to open up more and let people in,” says Sykes.
The Veterans Complex where Sykes lives in today offers resources and classes on- site every weekday. The Mesilla Valley Community of Hope partners with the Housing Authority to provide housing for Veterans who may be experiencing homelessness or at risk of being without a home.
Nicole Martinez, Executive Director of Mesilla Valley Community of Hope says that having this complex available to Veterans is not only strength to the community, and to the veterans themselves.
“People who have served our country and don’t deserve to be sleeping outside, they have their own space, their own beds now, and they have somebody right next door who understands what they have been through; not just what happens in the military, but what happens on the street,” says Martinez.
Sykes says that he has spoken with many homeless veterans who have served in combat and are having difficulty adjusting to life back home.
“The ones that have been in the combat zones; they get over and do things, not expecting to come back, but when they make it back, the stuff that they did won’t let their mind rest.” says Sykes.
Sykes volunteers his time at Camp Hope, where he has made good friends and may understand what many in the camp may be going through.
“I get happiness from helping people, I don’t know why that is, but I like helping people and they respond to me,” says Sykes.
Today, Sykes has a roof over his head and in his free time he helps others who are trying to build a foundation so that they too can transition from life on the street to having a roof over their head.