Help for a Young Veteran
Homeless to College Graduate
Deltric Davis served two years in the Army on the front lines in Iraq. After having an epileptic seizure, he received an early honorable discharge. After leaving the military, he lost his direction. He briefly attended Southern University and had a temporary job assisting with the BP Deepwater horizon cleanup efforts, but by November 2011 he was homeless, jobless and living on the streets.
Deltric sought help and was able to stay at the Garfield House, Volunteers of America Greater Baton Rouge’s transitional housing program for homeless veterans. He recently graduated from a local technical college with a degree in computer networking. With Volunteers of America’s job placement assistance program, hopes are high that Deltric will soon have the skills and the confidence to make a successful transition back into the community.
Volunteers of America Baton Rouge, through the generous support of The Home Depot Foundation, will be fully modernizing the almost 100-year old facility Deltric and other veterans still call home by completing an interior renovation of the 9 living units and the common areas.
The newly rennovated spaces will give veterans like Deltric their own modernized living spaces as well as areas where they can gather socially, have residents’ meetings with staff, promote family reunification with family activities, and use the computer to search for jobs, practice computer skills, email family and friends, and complete homework assignments.
Every veteran Volunteers of America helps transition from homelessness to independence, strengthens communities. The veterans in our programs leave with life skills, education, and means for self-sufficiency that allow them to be contributing members of their communities.