On Veterans Day, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution told the story of Krystina Brown, 32, a Navy veteran who served in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere from 2009-2013.
She performed her duties honorably on the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, but when she came home to the States, she ran into trouble.
This Veterans Day found Brown living in her car with her two dogs, sleeping in a Cobb County parking lot, perhaps a mile from Cobb’s new billion-dollar SunTrust Park.
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Readers’ hearts went out to Krystina.
“It’s not a lot but I figure any help is better than no help,” wrote Missie Medley, a fellow Navy aircraft carrier veteran, offering monetary support.
Readers wanted to give her running shoes (Brown is a runner). They wanted to let her stay in their homes. They wanted to give her a shoulder to lean on.
“Those people who want to help me, I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless,” said Brown, after the story was published and we told her about the feedback. “I’m doing OK. I do have a place to stay for the time being.”
To find a longer-term solution, Brown has an appointment with HOPE Atlanta, a nonprofit that helps house the homeless in Atlanta. “I’ve got my fingers crossed.”
Readers were moved by Brown’s willingness to hold down a full-time job while living in her car. They also recognized that other veterans are in similar situations.
Most civilians, wrote reader Shannon Romanstein, “would rather mumble, ‘Thank you for your service,’ than be made uncomfortable with real knowledge of the price we have required these Americans to pay for rendering that service.”
Women are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless veteran population, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Their numbers increased by 7 percent between 2016 and 2017.
Brown said those who want to help her out can help out many veterans at once by supporting such organizations as HOPE Atlanta. She also suggested contacting Georgia Military Women to learn about other groups that offer help.
Amy Stevens, a Navy veteran, and former director of psychological health for the Georgia National Guard, formed Georgia Military Women to help female veterans make the transition to civilian life, and to provide a place for camaraderie and fellowship.
Stevens and others recommended supporting these organizations for those seeking a way to help female veterans:
• HOPE Atlanta is partly funded by a VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families grant, and helps with "eviction prevention, and rapid re-housing assistance." Last year, HOPE helped "713 veterans and their families (387 households) remain housed or get off the streets and into stable housing," they wrote. 404-817-7070, hopeatlanta.org.
• United Way also receives SSVF funding, and provides help to homeless veterans. United Way sponsors an emergency 211 telephone line for those seeking help. unitedwayatlanta.org/focus/homelessness/.
• The Veterans Empowerment Organization, 3.5 miles west of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 373 W. Lake Ave., has limited capacity for women, according to spokesman Tyler Bowser, with five females currently in residence, but has plans to expand. 404-889-8710, veohero.org.
• The nonprofit Mary Hall Freedom House in Sandy Springs provides housing for homeless women, and has staff dedicated to serving female veterans. 770-642-5500, maryhallfreedomhouse.org.
• Among the services provided by Marietta-based United Military Care: groceries, diapers, baby formula and nutritious snacks for veterans in a crisis. 1220 Old Canton Road, Marietta. 770-973-0014, unitedmilitarycare.org.
The major provider for services to metro Atlanta veterans is, of course, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA's specialized programs for the homeless serve "hundreds of thousands of homeless and at-risk veterans each year," according to the VA website. atlanta.va.gov/services/homeless/.
• The VA is also gearing up to help the rising number of women in the armed forces. During the fiscal year 2018, the VA’s Women Veterans Program in Atlanta trained 40 primary care providers to treat “gender-specific medical conditions and to provide gender-specific preventive health care for women.” These providers were made designated women’s health providers at the area’s 15 outpatient care sites.
• On the state side, the Georgia Department of Veterans Service recently created the Women Veterans Office under director Veda Brooks, to help Georgia female veterans in their pursuit of services: veterans.georgia.gov/women-veterans.
Those who want to contact Krystina Brown can communicate through Stevens at Georgia Military Women: 770-309-7877; Stevens' Facebook page is at facebook.com/georgiamilitarywomen/.
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