VENTURA : ‘Stand Down’ to Aid Homeless Veterans

Homeless veterans and their families will have access to showers and meals as well as medical, legal and employment advice when volunteers set up a sort of weekend tent city at Ventura College Oct. 1-3.

Organizers of “Stand Down 1993” hope to attract at least 350 homeless veterans and their families from Ventura County and the city of Santa Barbara for the weekend, said project chairwoman Claire Hope.

“We will have 30 tents filled with cots,” she said. “Our ultimate goal is to give the homeless every possible service to allow them to break out of the homeless cycle.”

Veterans, who will be served three meals a day, will be allowed to use locker rooms and showers at the college. Doctors, dentists and optometrists will be on campus. Volunteers will be available to help with employment referrals and representatives from government agencies such as the Social Security Administration and the Department of Motor Vehicles will also be on campus.

Veterans will also be able to take care of outstanding warrants through a computer link with Ventura County courts.

Hope said volunteers from several public and private agencies have begun posting flyers throughout Ventura County and Santa Barbara to publicize the “Stand Down,” which is military terminology for moving from combat to safety.

Homeless veterans and their families can board buses at any one of 12 pickup sites throughout the area on Friday, Oct. 1, between 6:30 to 8 a.m. for the trip to Ventura College.