At Ease at Stand Down House

NY Times Photo

We constantly see panhandlers on major street corners with signs that sometimes say “veteran, I need a job” or other pleas for help. Our instinct is to say to ourselves, “go get lost,” “get a job,” or “get off the booze.” Every now and then we actually do reach into our pocket and give a buck or two thinking that perhaps this is really someone who needs help. But we still ignore it, usually looking the other way and leaving it as a vision of society's failure and one that we would rather forget.

Roy Foster is a man who did take it very seriously and decided to do something to help rehabilitate our veterans. He has been named CNN’s Top 10 Hero’s of 2009 and was recently awarded $25,000. He started a program with a co-partner for male veterans battling addiction and mental health problems and who have become homeless because of it.

Stand Down House is a 501 c(3) founded in 1994 and opened in Lake Worth in 2000. Foster will be featured tonight on CNN at 9pm. Read about it HERE.