A Soldiers’ Story: The Veterans Restoration Quarters and Inn

Enjoying the new Vet’s Place facility are (from left to right): Jim Blackmon, Case Manager, Ron Abraham, Randy Byrd (holding “Izzy” the puppy), Gary McCluney, and Henry Laster.

By Bill Moore

This is not your typical soldier’s story, because it is not about a single soldier but many.

They can be easily identified as your average Joe, your brother, son, nephew, uncle, or dad. The only difference is that something has happened to them that has changed their personalities, their lives, and outlooks. It has changed the way they look at themselves, for they are homeless. They live in the woods or under bridges. On cold nights they warm themselves with whiskey or whatever might be available.

The marvels of
modern science and air travel can have a soldier in a war zone fighting
for his life and twelve hours later sitting in his own living room. The
problem is that his body, brain, and psyche still have months of lag
time to deal with in some way. Therein lies a potential human disaster.
Many of these vets don’t make the transition easily or safely back to
“the world.” Some don’t make it at all. They struggle with their
experiences aided by the bottle, or other chemicals that ease the pain
for a while as marriages, careers, bank accounts, and self-respect are
sloughed off like layers of skin. When enough layers are gone, and
you’ve found there’s no solution at the bottom of the bottle – then
what?

If you
are willing to remold yourself, and you can stand to face what you have
become, there is hope and help. Many of you who have been around
Asheville for any length of time knew the ABCCM rescue mission on Coxe
Avenue. That became “The Vets’ Place” a few years ago, and eventually
outgrew the old facility. In 2008 ABCCM began the move to the old Motel
8 in Oteen, and in May the move was completed. Today 160 men occupy the
“Veterans Restoration Quarters and Inn,” with the number expected to
rise to about 200. Each man has a roommate and all the amenities of a
good motel as well as three meals a day from the newly completed
commercial kitchen, built by the vets themselves.

The men
are (if unable to work a regular job) expected to do at least twenty
hours of volunteer work each week. Those who are able-bodied must seek
employment and eventually independent housing. These elements, though
important, are only adjunct to what happens from day to day. The
program is structured so that a man is given the opportunity to help
himself. But the real impetus to accomplish the remolding process has
to come from a man himself.

And what
of these men – and how did they come to such a state as homelessness?
Bodies are battered from misfortune, abuse, or combat; but so are
psyches and spirits. The reasons are all different, and all remarkably
the same. There are many stories that could and should be told, about
suffering and sacrifice, about hardship and bad decisions, about dumb
bad luck and tragedy. They are all different yet similar, and reach
from the terrible winter at Valley Forge, the rice patties of Vietnam,
to the deserts of Iran and Iraq. One such story went this way:

He
endured a war, combat wounds, and came home to marry the woman of his
dreams. He started his own business and became a success story in the
American tradition. Then one day the doctor said: “Your wife has
multiple myeloma.” All the money, the land, the two houses suddenly
meant little if anything. Half a million dollars later his wife died.
He was broke, lost his business, and had no home. He found his way to
Asheville, and had the will to remold himself. Today he is
self-sustaining and has becoming whole again. A short and simple
tragedy that ended with a major triumph!

As a
ministry, that is what ABCCM is all about: the program seeks to help
heal and strengthen the soul and spirit as well as the body and mind ,
for that is where the remolding of a mans life begins. That’s what the
Vet’s Quarters is all about.

If you need help, call director Michael Reich (828) 298-7952 or visit any time at 1329 E. Tunnel Road in Asheville.