Standing Up for Veterans at the Stand Out
The Stand Out will send multidisciplinary teams into homeless encampments to engage the hardest-to-reach homeless veterans. In addition to co-chairing (helping to organize) the Stand Out, Village for Vets, in partnership with Brentwood School, will provide the outreach teams with meals and “Field Packs” - backpacks filled with supplies including socks, underwear, personal hygiene kits, as well as Sleeping Bag Coats - to distribute to homeless vets in need. The Village for Vets Emergency Financial Assistance program will also fund grants of up to $100 for outreach teams to help homeless vets replace something that they have lost or was stolen from them.
The Stand Out event will operate from two Command Centers -- VA West Los Angeles and VA Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Center (LACC) -- where VA staff and volunteers will coordinate the days’ service delivery and outreach team support. Teams will visit encampments in Downtown LA, Echo Park, MacArthur Park, West LA and Venice. Each outreach team will include representatives able to provide housing, legal and medical services - including mobile COVID and TB tests, flu vaccinations and more. The Stand Out will also deliver services virtually, with doctors, lawyers, and benefits specialists on call and available via phone for Outreach Teams to reach from the field.
Coordinating partners for the event include VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Village for Vets, Brentwood School, UCLA Veteran Family Wellness Center, Department of Mental Health, LA Housing Authority, Disabled American Veterans, Found Animals and Community Veteran Justice Project and many others. Thank you to Samara Freedman and her friends for making/donating the hygiene kits.
How you can help: We urgently need contributions to purchase Sleeping Bag Coats. The Empowerment Plan produces the innovative coats in Detroit, employing people transitioning out of homelessness, and has offered to contribute one coat for each one we purchase - doubling our impact. Learn more and donate here.