LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Being homeless can mean sleeping outside, in a car or in someone's basement. Some United States military veterans who fought for their country are now fighting that battle of homelessness, just trying to survive.
USA Cares, a Louisville nonprofit committed to providing veterans, service members and their families with financial assistance and training, plans to use a new federal grant to help those veterans get reintegrated.
One of those veterans is Michael Evans, who was discharged from the U.S. Army. Like a lot of people he served with, Evans never stopped being a soldier.
"I've always been a fighter — a survivor, " Evans said. "We are true soldiers at heart and we continue to fight."
For the last 40 years, the fight has included everything from homelessness to problems with mental health.
"I slept in tents, I slept in cars, sometimes — depending on the circumstances — abandoned buildings," Evans said.
USA Cares' headquarters in Louisville. Nov. 15, 2023. (WDRB Photo)
After years of struggling, a chance meeting with someone from USA Cares opened the doors to a home and new job.
"Within three weeks of meeting him, I am working," Evans said.
Trace Chesser, president and CEO of USA Cares and also a veteran, said the $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor will fund a reintegration program that puts veterans to work and gives them somewhere to live.
"Veterans are very resilient. And as long as they have a sense of purpose, they do really well," Chesser said. "It's coming quick. I mean, we're getting people employed now. We have four interviewing this week."
Chesser believes the program is also addressing a deadly problem.
"I think we're reducing the veteran suicide rate every time we do that," he said.
Despite being at home, without help from organizations like USA Cares, some veterans would continue to be at war.
"Every day I get up, I struggle to better myself and be a part of this country," Evans said. "Even at home, we are like POWs. We have to stay strong to be strong."
Evans said the help he has received from organizations like USA Cares gives him strength to move forward.
"It's very important, because a lot of us feel that no one cares," he said.
Chesser said helping veterans get back on their feet is a win for the entire city because of the amount of money the city spends each year.
"They said it's somewhere around $26,000 a year that the city has to spend on all the services they're involved with that," he said, adding that feedback to this new program has been great.
"Veterans are just amazing employees. They go through some of the toughest training in the world. And they're so thorough and everything they do. And I hear it all the time, a lot of employers say 'Send me veterans, because they do really well.'"
To learn more about USA Cares or to donate,click here.
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