C.O. cold another test for homeless veterans

With the sudden drop in temperatures in Central Oregon, emergency homeless shelters are getting ready to help those in need, many of them veterans.

“I was living in shelters until I was lucky enough to find the Bethlehem Inn and from there was connected with Central Oregon Veterans Outreach,” said Stephen Montgomery.

Montgomery served in the Air Force for years. When he came back home, he had a hard time finding full-time employment.

“When people first get out of the military, there’s a gigantic loss of purpose,” said Montgomery.

He was homeless for a year.

“It’s crippling in a lot of ways. A lot of the guys out there, it just breaks them. You can’t help but give up in a lot of those situations,” said Montgomery.

As of January 2014, there were 49,933 veterans without homes nationwide. That is a 40 percent drop from 2010, but officials form COVO said veterans homelessness is still an issue in Central Oregon.

“Veteran homelessness is a huge problem on the High Desert as I’m sure it is across the nation. When people are returning from war and being deployed, they come back it is a very hard time to transition,” said Jeanette Rivas with COVO.

Now, with the cold temperatures, emergency shelters like the Bethlehem Inn are getting ready.

“We have room for an additional 12 people in our kitchen,” said Chris Clouart, managing director at the Bethlehem Inn. “You know, under these kind of conditions we have a rule of thumb that we use when the weather goes bad here in Central Oregon. For the shelters and for people who provide services our goal is no dead bodies.”

Bethlehem Inn volunteer George Honnell is a veteran himself.

“See veterans come through, you get to know them a little bit and then they leave. Where did they go? Well, they’ve got a job,” said Honnell.

Montgomery got a job as well and he recently moved into subsidized housing through COVO.

“Clothing, food, shelter, the big three really. So I couldn’t ask for more,” said Montgomery.