[Michael] I was losing a lot of everything...

[Natalie] I probably would be dead...

[Ron] There is nothing more than wanting to give back to these Veterans...

Hi, I'm Rocky Bleier.

Any discussion of the care and treatment of our returning Veterans

is sure to provoke a lot of comments, both pro and con.

The premis of our project was to let the Veterans speak for themselves.

Our only criteria in choosing these people were their treatment issues.

We have Vets discussing PTSD, homelessness, sexual and physical abuse,

substance abuse, suicide and incarceration.

We have two males and one female.

We didn't tell them what to say, we merely asked them to tell us their story.

What they told us will literally make you angry, sad, laugh and cry,

but most of all, it will make you think.

You know, an alarming statistic to me is that an estimated fifty to

seventy thousand Veterans are homeless.

They sleep in the streets of towns and cities every night all across America.

They are ravished by the elements, they are beaten, robbed and killed.

They suffer with little or no food, unable or unwilling to break the cycle

of alcoholism and drug addiction, which all too frequently accompanies this way of life.

Although we can never be certain of their true numbers,

we can be certain that this is not acceptable.

As with everything in life, things will not change until there is action taken.

This is where our next Veteran, Ron, comes in.

Until very recently he was one of these faceless Vets who's very existence

was in doubt day after day.

When we first spoke with Ron, we were amazed at his story.

He told us about camps of Veterans living in groups in the woods

and caves of southwestern Pennsylvania.

Now Ron is a survivor, but more importantly, he has devoted his life to helping

just one more Vet break this cycle and be there for them when they reach out for help.

Ron is a true hero, and he tells his story as only someone who has been there can.

[music]

It's cold. You know, it's cold, it's wet.

And when it's nice it's warm out.

It's like being on a picnic wherever you can find

a spot where nobody else is at.

Sometimes you just go out and park yourself under

the 16th Street Bridge by Heinz Company.

We spent a lot of time over there. The 9th Street trestle,

underneath the train trestle, Cedar Avenue...

we used to go up there. Sometimes you just walk

through the parks, you know, you're walking,

walking, you get really tired and you just

sit down on a bench and just relax and take it easy.

When I was about nine years old, some stuff

happened to me in the community, in the North Side.

I got picked up by a van driver.

I didn't know any better I guess.

And he did some bad things to me sexually

in the back of the van.

And then he was picked up and arrested.

After a while he was convicted and all that.

I didn't know this was something that would

really bother a person, you know.

I mean I didn't know it would follow them

through their life.

I was 16 and I got a job at Allegheny General Hospital.

First I volunteered there for two years, from 14 to 16.

I was offered a job on the payroll and when they gave me

the job, I was making a lot of money.

I was making more money than a regular

high school student was.

At the time, minimum wage was $2.10 an hour and

I was making $4.40 an hour

because they considered me a nurse aide because

I was a prep orderly for the hospital.

I picked up a career in drinking because I had so much

money I didn't know what to do with it.

I'd go on the city steps in the neighborhood and

that's how I got my friends because I had

money and I was able to party with my friends

but when I didn't have any money, nobody knew me.

My mother came up to me one day when I

wasn't paying my rent and she told me,

she said, "You know what?" She packed up my things

and gave them to me and said, "Hit the road, Jack."

And basically from the time I was 16

until 19 I was basically homeless, living

on somebody's couch or under the city steps

up on the middle street or down one of the

bridges or on somebody's couch. Finally around

19 years old of age I signed up for the Army

thinking you know as much drinking as I'm

doing, maybe I could calm it down in the service.

Maybe it will teach me not to drink.

Welll, basically when I was in the service, I learned

how to drink more. I just kept on drinking,

and drinking, and it just got crazy and I

wasn't showing up for formation in the morning

and CO got mad at me and they finally discharged

me out of the Army. So from there on I was

just struggling. Somebody let me stay in their

attic one time with no windows in it and cockroaches

and stuff like that. When I wasn't there I

would be out on East Street at a big hillside.

I was out there with the fire barrel and me

and my brother Frankie, he's a step brother,

he was homeless too. He showed me some of

the ropes of how to survive out there.

I've gotten beaten up by a security guard,

I mean he really beat me up really bad.

[sound of punches hitting a body]

He ran me into a display of propane bottles,

almost put me through the window when I got a deep

cut here. It almost killed me they said.

I got robbed when I was about 21 right in front

of Allegheny General Hospital. I got stabbed

in the eye and dislocated my shoulder and

stuff. And I guess that's probably some of

the things that I was afraid of to go and

ask for help. Basically just keep them to myself.

Finally my brother, my oldest brother

Jack, he is a Navy veteran, Vietnam veteran.

He went through the domiciliary programs that VA has.

He has a substance abuse, himself,

and he successfully got through their treatment.

He saw how bad I was, really getting sick

with the alcoholism and he told me, he said

"Ron, you know what? You need to call the VA."

And being that it was so many years later

I thought there was nothing for me there at the VA.

He got me in touch with them. I called

I think it was CTAD over in Pittsburgh and

I was admitted to CTAD for a 21-day program

there where they admitted me from there to

the domiciliary program at Butler VA.

I went to Butler VA and I went through their program

successfully in 2003 and I came back home

to Pittsburgh and I was doing well for about a year.

I had a good job. I was managing a

pizza shop and that was the year my brother

Frank got killed as a pizza delivery driver.

And not long after that my mother had passed.

Then my job burnt down from a person that

lived upstairs who was smoking crack.

I guess he dropped his pipe in the chair and it just

burned the whole building down. So many things

in that little bit of time. I guess the tools

that I learned from the VA I didn't take them

home and use them. And so I was carrying on

there for about another year and then one

day in April 26, 2007, I just asked the police

to 302 me to see if I could get help again.

And they took me to Allegheny General Hospital,

the detox, and while I was there I talked

to this really nice doctor. I can't remember his name.

He told me, he said, "Ron, are you a veteran?"

I said, "Yes, sir, I am."

And he said, "Would you like some help?"

I said, "I would, I really would, because I'm done,

I'm tired and I'm sick. I don't want to do this any more."

And I told him I think I wore out my welcome

with the VA because I've been through

their program and I don't think they'll take me back.

And he told me, he said, "Let me ask you,

do you want to try it?" I said, "Sure."

So he actually got on the phone, called the VA,

and the VA said yes, we'll take him back.

I did go to the VA the second time, to the

domiciliary program,

and what the domiciliary is, it's a place

where the veteran goes.

They get one-on-one case management with these

veterans. They get three hots and a cot,

and they have their freedom while they're there,

but they do have classes to go to.

They show you your triggers, they show you how to work

around your triggers.

They show you how to budget money for when

you do go back out into the community.

And they show you how to change, and this time

I took those tools and I put them to work.

I went from their domiciliary treatment program,

transitioned into Deshon Place,

which is in partnership with the Housing Authority.

And what it is is transitional housing that you

can stay there for up to 2 years

and still have a program to work for yourself.

You know it was like a controlled environment,

it was a safe environment.

They let you go to work. They had a curfew.

You had to be in there at 11 o'clock at night.

And I stayed there for nine months and working

right across the street at Target

from Deshon Place from the VA property.

And I was offered a better job at the Marriott in Cranberry.

So I went there and I was making good money.

So I figured OK, it's time for me to go now.

I don't really think I need any more of this treatment.

So I moved into the community and

when I moved into the community, two months

later they told me I was going to have a career

there at the hotel.

And what happened, it was right at Christmas time

when they laid all of us off.

And I said, "Holy crap, I'm going to lose my house

again and I'm going to be homeless again."

Well I went up to the VA and I explained it to Dan,

I just walked into his office and I said,

"Dan, guess what, I'm going to be homeless again."

He said, "Why?"

I said, "Well, the Marriott is laying me off and

I don't have any money to pay my rent.

I'm just going to be out on the road again."

And he said, "No you're not. I got a place to put you today."

So I went to the Mechling Shakley Veterans Center, stayed

there for nine months and they offered me a HUD-VASH.

It's a partnership between the VA and the Housing Authority.

And I was successfully able to move into my

own place again, and I always had a job.

I went up to Boscov's up in Clearview Mall out in Butler.

I was able to get a interview with the cleaning company

to clean Boscov's and I worked there for a while.

Just for the heck of it I stopped at Friedman's supermarket

and put in an application in there.

They hired me right on the spot.

Then I applied for a position up at the Butler VA.

I've know Ron for a lot of years.

One thing about Ron is we always found out

is that he always worked.

It might be the smallest, whatever job it was,

but he always worked. So he had a work ethic.

And we saw that. But as things created with the program,

as things grew, we thought we need peer support,

we needed a homeless peer support, who can be on that

same level who knew about this stuff firsthand.

And so that's where we saw Ron walking down the hall

one day and said, "Hey Ron, do you want a job?"

And he's like, "Yeah!"

He thought we were kidding, but no, it worked out.

We just had this position come open and I can tell you

the guy is invaluable.

For all the chances I have had, all the failures

I've made for myself, and now the VA, as much

as they put into me, there is nothing more

than wanting to give back to these veterans.

I think I owe it to the veterans, I think I owe it to

the VA for what they've done for me.

And I'll tell you the truth, I won't trade my job

in for any other job. I love my job.

"Hey Mark, what's up buddy?"

The veterans, they know me, so what I'll do is I'll

call them up and ask them if I can stop by.

So I go around and see how they are doing, see if

they have any issues that need to be taken care of.

Even if they have to go to court

or something or go pay a fine or something,

they don't have transportation, I'll get them there.

And if we don't hear from a veteran, if we knock on

the door or call them and they are not answering,

we'll be worried about them.

We'll keep pounding at their door until they

answer us because we really do care about our veterans.

Right now we're at a place called

Robin's Nest, it's an unseen rural community

where homeless people live. We were hoping

to find some homeless veterans here to see

if we could reach out and offer some services

to them. Every time I come out here I can

at least get one veteran some help or even

any of the other people out here, it doesn't

have to be a veteran. If we can't help them,

then we'll reach out to another agency in

the community to help them also.

There's a place out there called Patches Place.

She knows pretty much about that area out there and

she's like a director who also helps homeless people.

"We're coming up to see if you had

any contact with any veterans?"

"A few."

"We'd like to talk to them. If you can bring us

down and be our guide we'd be very appreciative."

She took us to the caves to show us, but we

did not see anybody that was active in those caves.

They were, I guess, if it was bad weather,

they would probably go there to keep dry or whatever.

It's close quarters, but it would keep you warm.

I guess so. Keep you out of the wind and hail. Yeah.

Veterans go out into those wars

and into them woods and they fight and they

come back and it's hard for them to readjust.

It's hard for families to adjust to them.

So what they do is their own families kick

them to the curb.

And that's what the VA is here to say,

We're here to help you.

Don't sleep outside under the elements because you

don't know what could happen out there.

Please come to the VA. We'll reach out.

I know there's something there for you.

Just let us find it. And you deserve it.

You gave us our freedom, so let us give you some back.

This world needs more people like Ronnie. He never stops giving back.

He has devoted himself to becoming a walking encyclopedia of services

that can help our homeless Vets with all of the problems that result from their lifestyle.

But we need your help too.

If you know of a Veteran who is suffering from any of these issues,

have them contact their local VA immediately.

Who knows...they can meet someone just like Ron.

Thanks for watching. We need to keep this conversation going.

We've heard from these Veterans and we need to hear from a lot more.

We know the questions. Let's work on the answers.

I'm Rocky Bleier. Vietnam was my war.

To all of our service men and women from all of our wars,

welcome home.