Larry & Me, II

What we have found in this country,
and maybe we're more aware of it now,
is one problem that we've had,
even in the best of times,
and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates,
the homeless, you might say, by choice
--Ronald Reagan
___________________

This is a follow-up on Larry, the homeless veteran.

I took up the issue with Steve Waite, director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic (OPC) in Tallahassee. Although Steve does not supervise the Homeless Coordinator and this program works out of a different facility, Steve still checked to see if Larry was getting due consideration from the system.

One third of homeless men in the U.S. are veterans, and Larry appears to be a member of that statistic. What it boils down to is that Larry does not want any help from the DVA, and is content living his life on the street, out of a satchel. This is a case where the system did its job, at least at this point in Larry's life.

This is to thank Steve for his concern and to close the loop on Larry's story.