Kathryn Troutman   on Sunday 02/01/2015 at 05:54 PM

I have recently coached a homeless man, age 61, in getting housing in a shelter, food stamps, Medicaid, and a job through a staffing agency. The shelter gave him a cellphone. And I applied for jobs for him. I wrote his resume in a chronological way. Lucky for him, he worked for me for about a year part-time in my book warehouse, so I was able to be a reference for him to get him into the staffing agency. He walks to the bus from the homeless shelter and goes to work everyday. He is very steady with his work. The shelter will give him first month rent and deposit for a room to rent, when he finds one. After he has two pay stubs to show that he can pay for the room. It is very challenging. He slept on his friend's sofas for 8 years until now he is at the shelter. I hope he can move out and get his own room, until he becomes eligible at least for some small retirement social security. It is amazing to watch a 100% blow poverty person try to get out on their own. It is incredibly difficult, and they CANNOT do it by themselves. Good luck for all that you do for the homeless.

Laird Crandall   on Sunday 02/08/2015 at 11:29 AM

I thought this a timely article as I listened to an NPR program about PTSD and unemployed veterans and have wanted to help. In tossing around the idea with colleagues one countered that many veterans don't respond well to non-military counselors. Wondering what others think.

Kathryn Troutman   on Sunday 02/08/2015 at 12:24 PM

Veterans are okay with non-military counselors I think, if you can get their attention and get them motivated to buy-in, collaborate and follow-up with you! I work with veterans and their federal job applications ... and my method to keep them engaged is to follow-up with THEM. I don't wait for them to get back to me. It requires continuous follow-up. But this approach does work. This is not a typical counseling collaborative style.

Brad Allen   on Monday 02/09/2015 at 04:34 PM

Laird, I would encourage you to help. In my experience, I have found that whether or not you are a military counselor is not really an issue. I think the main thing is that you offer enough expertise on the subject manner and are sensitive to the barriers they might be facing in furthering their career.