Going to devote this column to what is happening with Maine Veterans in Need (MVN).

This non-profit started in 2020 as an off-shoot of the VA’s Homeless Veteran Committee that was established in 2000 and disbanded in 2018. Some of the non-VA members, including me, started MVN to continue addressing the work of the VA’s committee but to expand the effort by actually providing hands on support for veterans in need. Thanks to the continuing donations from the community and organizations like the American Legion Winter Classic (softball tournament in February), MVN has been able to help with emergency needs that other government funded programs can’t, or can’t quickly enough to stabilize the immediate situation.

Just over the past month, MVN put a veteran in a Caribou hotel on a Friday because due to unforeseen circumstances he lost his home and the “system” couldn’t find housing for him until Monday. Another veteran was low on propane and MVN coordinated with other non-profits to raise the money to fill his tank. A VA case worker asked MVN if we could provide transportation for an elderly veteran in Lewiston who had a 3-hour eye appointment in Portland. MVN found a local Lewiston cab company that would provide the required transportation well below the normal cost, MVN covered that service. Another veteran who was moving out of the Bread of Life Shelter in Augusta into an apartment in Portland needed to get his “stuff” out of storage in Farmington to his new apartment. MVN arranged a U-Haul to make that happen, and provided a bed and dresser from another donor, carrying it up two flights of stairs to his apartment.

On several occasions veterans contacted MVN where the solutions to their homeless situation was the V.E.T.S emergency trailer. Ed Harmon was called and he had the trailers in place within 12 hours. Two veterans had issues with landlords and they were handed over to Pine Tree Legal. Several had financial issues that were within the scope of the Veterans Emergency Financial Assistance Program (VEFAP) and they were connected to the two organizations that manage VEFAP, the American Legion and Veterans Forward. MVN was notified by another agency on a Friday in February of a couple who needed shelter, a couple with two kids and a third on the way. After arranging to put them in a hotel, the wife called to say she just delivered her baby and would be in the hospital for a few days. In the meantime, the agency found an apartment for them. MVN, then working with the Elks in Augusta, loaded a trailer with beds, tables, chairs and other necessary items and moved them into their apartment.

Two ways you can help, one is donations (checks made out to MVN, 62 Pegasus Drive, Brunswick, ME 04011) and the other is providing transportation when called upon and usually outside the Boothbay region. Contact David Patch (207.751.5672) if you are able to volunteer.