Real Hero Report |
The marble statue depicts two life size veterans, one male and
branches of the military. Inscribed on the base will be the phrase,
which depicts their plight faced in society
today. The two statues do not have any rank, as veterans of all
ranks are subject to becoming homeless.
“Cherokee County is not immune to homeless veterans. We
have processed over 85 this year, some single, others with
a decorated Army Ranger. He is homeless, and has been for a
number of years, and suffers from PTSD. He deals with his PTSD
by self-medicating to forget the close combat incident he had, so
that he can sleep. We tried to get him help from the VA, but due to
the fact that the Government has lost his military records, he has
been unable to obtain the help he needs and earned.”
“Another homeless veteran case we had involved a female
Marine who had been homeless for a number of years, and though
due to an obscure law passed in 1980 that requires 24 months
several exemptions to this law, and after six months of working
out of her homeless situation,” continued Lindenmayer.
“The statue will be dedicated on Friday, January 25, 2019, at
the Cherokee County Veterans Park just outside of Canton, GA,
during the National HUD Homeless Point in Time count. It will
be a reminder to us all that the issue of homeless veterans goes
back to the Revolutionary War and has been part of our society
ever since,” noted Lindenmayer. “Homelessness for the veterans
who volunteered or were drafted to serve this county should
never happen, and we owe veterans, including homeless
veterans, a debt of gratitude for their service. Many of the
veterans are homeless due to issues that they encountered while
in the service.”
The statue, and much of the work being done around its
installation, is being donated by people such as Hickey and his
company, as well as a number of local veteran-owned businesses.
Still, with all of the donated work, there are some expenses that
the CCHVP cannot cover. A GOFUNDME account has been
set up in the hopes that the CCHVP can cover these additional
expenses. “When we set up the GOFUNDME account, we wanted
to make sure that funds raised for the homeless program are not
used. Any funds that go beyond the statue donation target will
go directly to programs run by the Cherokee County Homeless
Veterans Program,” stated Lindenmayer.
the American Legion in Cherokee County. All staff at the program
are 100% volunteers and receive no salary. It is CCHVP’s
honor to pay it forward to others who have served our country
honorably. The American Legion is the largest veteran support
group in the U.S. with Posts in 14,000 communities around the
country with 2.4 million members. For more information, go to
http://www.legion.org.
/www.legion.org