It takes a community

By Carl Singer

I just returned home from doing a Mitzvah.

One of my other volunteer “hats” is county chair for ESGR – the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.  ESGR is a Department of Defense organization that addresses the needs of Guard and Reserve service members and their employers.  (See:  www.esgr.mil  for information.)  As such along with other veterans-oriented volunteers I attend meetings coordinated by the Catholic Family and Community Services Supportive Services for Veterans and Families (SSVF).  David Pearson does a unbelievable job as their Assistant Director of Veterans Services.  Last week I received an email from David that a veteran who lives in the Paterson Park Apartments (New Jersey) had been mugged and robbed – both his money and his bicycle had been stolen.  For this veteran his bicycle is not recreational, but his primary means of transportation.

Like many empty nesters I have a few bicycles gathering dust at home.  So I contacted Michele Kadell who is the Senior Case Manager at Paterson Park Apartments which provides “Permanent Supportive Housing for Homeless and/or Disabled Veterans.”  Michelle runs a wonderful apartment complex for veterans.  This complex which is private/public funded provides a home to both male and female veterans (and in some cases their families.)  As you’ll recall in my testimony before the joint Senate/House Veterans Affairs Committee – “One homeless veteran is one too many!”

I teamed up with a friend of mine, Paul Anderson, (SgtMaj U.S. Marine Corps, Retired) who helped me fix up my son’s bicycle and we then were able to deliver the bike today.

It shows again that little things mean a lot – helping veterans on a 1 to 1 basis is important.

Pictured below are the bicycle and (from left to right) me, Paul and our veteran, Gary.

God Bless the United States of America.

Volume 71. Number 3. Fall 2017