If you are a veteran that is homeless, on the verge of being homeless or dealing with other critical issues, there is an organization you may not know about that
If you are a veteran that is homeless, on the verge of being homeless or dealing with other critical issues, there is an organization you may not know about that can potentially help.
Ki Bois Community Action Foundation, Inc., operates a program called Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) that bills itself as a housing first program, but it does much more, according to Louise Musselman, BSED, case manager.
Ki Bois SSVF serves 24 counties in rural Oklahoma that includes Adair, Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw, Coal, Haskell, Hughes, Johnston, Latimer, LeFlore, Love, Marshall, McCurtain, McIntosh, Murray, Muskogee, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pushmataha and Sequoyah.
“The program is for people who are homeless, or have underlying issues they don't feel they can deal with,” Musselman said. “We try to find out their goals and help them achieve that. If they have a housing stability plan as their goal, they may need to increase their income. We help them find work, or sometimes they may have a legal problem, and we have our attorney – not criminal but maybe with child support or traffic...”
Musselman said SSVF tries to do outreach in the form of meeting with other groups or organizations to get referrals.
SSVF attempts to improve very low-income veterans' families' housing stability through case management which may include referral to job search and employment assistance, temporary financial assistance, housing search services, health care services, daily living services, personal financial planning, transportation, fiduciary and payee services, legal services and child care services.
“We verify the veteran's status such as income. The most at need are those with less than 50 percent of the area median income, depending on the number in the household,” Musselman said. “The housing status could be anything from homeless to being in imminent danger of becoming homeless. We enroll the entire household, no matter if they are relatives or not. We do have stipulations if someone comes in or adds to the lease property.”
Every step of the process is verified before going to the next step, Musselman said.
“Our goal is to serve 300 vets a year in the 24-county area. We have three vets in Sequoyah County and a fourth working on enrollment. There are two in Adair County, one in Cherokee County and two in LeFlore County. I've been doing this for about seven months. Honestly, it's the most rewarding work I've ever done. I come home exhausted every day, but the result is immediate,” she said.
Musselman said a lot of veterans don't like to ask for help, but Musselman said SSVF can help them pay utility or security deposits, buy them a new bed, or try to link them to other resources to get other furniture.
“We can get them cookware and dishes and make sure they have the essentials they need. A lot of times I've seen a grown man cry because they hadn't been shown that kindness,” she said. The Veteran's Administration recognized there was a huge problem with homeless veterans. They come back with depression, anxiety and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). In the military, they had a mission, they were part of a unit. A lot of them come out of the service with no life skills. They don't know how to keep a monthly budget. Sometimes they need budget training, or sometimes they need a payee service.”
SSVF can also offer referrals if the veteran needs mental health or physical health services.
SSVF operates through a grant through the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), which the service must apply for every three years. It sets a higher standard than SSVF. SSVF also follows HIPA to protect personal information and client confidentiality, Musselman said.
Eligible participants include either a veteran or spouse of a veteran; must be very low-income, less than 50 percent of the area median income and must be homeless or in imminent risk of becoming homeless.