On Friday, August 20, Goodwill held a Veteran Stand Down in La Porte to bring together and assist local veterans.
The concept of a Stand Down was created during wartime to allow active military members a chance to rest and get any help or care they needed.
“It’s an opportunity for our military personnel to get off the battlefield, get some rest, medical care, dental care, and hot meals. It allows them to just have some camaraderie with their battle buddies in a safe environment,” Jill Powers, Goodwill's Veterans and Military Families Program Manager said.
The concept of the Stand Down eventually extended past physical battlefields as communities began adopting the event as a way to help homeless veterans.
“After Vietnam, homelessness in the veteran population is very high and a couple of actual Vietnam veterans out in San Diego took the battle side of the stand down and created it into what we do for Stand Downs today,” Powers said. “They did this because they felt that while homeless veterans may not be on a literal battlefield, they are still on a sort of battlefield as they battle homelessness and all the challenges and barriers that come with that.”
Goodwill’s goal of hosting the Stand Down was to help veterans and their families who may be experiencing hardships outside of military service. Goodwill partnered with various community entities to organize vendors who could help supply attendees with employment and housing opportunities, information on Veterans Affairs, free personal care items, care kits, backpacks, meals and more.
“The Stand Downs are definitely for us to find any of our homeless veterans in the community and get them here. We provide a lot of community resources in one location for them,” Powers said. “Other veterans are welcomed as well, any one of us can be only a day, even an hour, away from becoming homeless.”
Another goal of the Stand Down was to bring together the veteran community and provide an opportunity for local veterans to interact and connect with one another.
“It’s a great opportunity for veterans to see old friends and just connect with their community. Especially after last year, everybody’s been happy to get back outside,” Powers said.
The Stand Down also serves as an opportunity for veterans to connect with their community as they learn about opportunities in their local area through each vendor.
“It’s a good way for local veterans to be able to connect to their community, to know what their community has to offer to them whether that’s a social service or if its just entertainment or a chance to just relax,” Powers said.
Goodwill hosts four veteran events throughout the summer, including the Stand Down. It also offers help to veterans in whatever they may need and helps them connect to their communities through its veterans and military families program.
The La Porte Veteran Stand Down allowed for veterans, as well as their families, to obtain guidance, opportunities, and more. The vendors brought in for the event each provided a specific service for veterans to help them in whatever area of life they may need help in.
To learn more about Goodwill’s resources for Veterans and their families visit its website at https://goodwill-ni.org/services/#veteran-services.
