Since March 2011, Harvest House has had the privilege of serving over 300 Veterans in supportive housing. This means that in addition to housing, we provide wrap-around services including case management, life skills classes, recovery support groups, life enrichment activities, and referral services.
We’ve had many takeaways from the years of serving Veterans. One observation is that we noticed an increased stigma associated with receiving services amongst Veterans. Asking for help is hard enough for us all. It seems to be a human condition. In addition to this human predisposition, Veterans are typically trained to be tough in difficult circumstances, which can result in a masking of symptoms. On top of that, our society expects them to be the tough of the tough. The effect of this conditioning and society’s expectations oftentimes means Veterans remain on the streets longer, self-medicate longer, and struggle with mental health longer.
As a community, we can do our part to break down the barrier of stigma by changing our expectations of Veterans and by being intentional about our word choice surrounding mental wellness.
We are proud of the courageous Veterans who’ve defied statistics and reached out for help. Many have journeyed forward to stable housing, employment, completing education goals, and living lives full of purpose and joy. We encourage any Veteran who is struggling, in any capacity, to find a place of connection and belonging and allow your fellow humans to journey with you.
After 10 years, our contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has come to an end. Although this chapter has ended, we remain committed to serving Veterans and their families through our supportive housing and recovery programs. Veterans in our care will still be connected to services specific for Veterans, such as healthcare through the VA’s Bay Pines Medical Center and the Sarasota VA Clinic. We will continue to assist with service-connected benefits, discharge upgrade requests, and referrals to other Veteran-serving organizations.
To all Veterans and your families, we sincerely thank you for your service and commitment to ideals bigger than any one of us.
If you’d like to support Veteran Services at Harvest House, please make a gift today.
Erin E Minor
Chief Executive Officer
