© 2024 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY · WNPR
WPKT · WRLI-FM · WEDW-FM · Public Files Contact
ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Housing issues affect everyone in Connecticut, from those who are searching for a safe place to live, to those who may find it increasingly difficult to afford a place they already call home.WNPR is covering Connecticut's housing and homelessness issues in a series that examines how residents are handling the challenges they face. We look at the trends that matter most right now, and tell stories that help bring the issues to light.

Homeless Female Veterans: Undercounted and Underserved

Army veteran LouAnn Hazelwood was fleeing her second abusive marriage when she found one of the nation's few transitional programs for homless female veterans.
Rebecca Sheir
/
American Homefront
Army veteran LouAnn Hazelwood was fleeing her second abusive marriage when she found one of the nation's few transitional programs for homless female veterans.

A growing number of homeless veterans are women. But there are few places that specialize in helping them get back on their feet.

Rebecca Sheir reports on the challenges faced by homeless female veterans.

The federal government estimates that on any given night, 3,000 to 4,000 female veterans are homeless.But that estimate is probably on the low side,  according to Sara Scoco, who directs the Women's Program of the nonprofit group Soldier On.

"When people are doing homeless counts, they're going to shelters, they're seeing people on the street," Scoco said. "A female veteran is not the person you see on the street holding a sign."

Instead, she holing up in her car or couch surfing at friends' houses.  She might be a single mom, or she may have experienced sexual trauma.

"The issue of female veteran homelessness is so underlooked, understudied," Scoco said. "It's not understood because it's not in your face all the time." 

So Soldier On decided to do its part by building a transitional-housing facility just for women.

In a bright and airy three-story building on the Department of Veterans Affairs campus in Leeds, Massachusetts, the organization's Women's Program houses sixteen women. It caters to their special needs with things like art and yoga classes, support groups, and job counseling.

"A lot of women that come to us have really lost everything," Scoco said. "They've lost all sense of hope. And so all of what we do is build them back up."

Scoco said all of the residents suffered some sort of trauma before, during, or after they served.

61-year-old LouAnn Hazelwood, who was in the Army in the 1970's and 1980's, said her verbal, physical and sexual trauma started early in life.

"I more or less wanted to join the military as a way of escape," Hazelwood said.

But she experienced more trauma in the military and after she got out. When she came to the Women's Program, she was fleeing her second abusive marriage and was so traumatized she didn't speak. Being only around women made her feel safer.

"For me, it was a way of recouping from all the abuse that I went through." Hazelwood said. "I have yet to totally trust being around a man."

33-year-old Page is another resident of the Program. The former Air Force technician asked that we not use her last name.

Nursing students from the University of Massachusetts visit the Women's Program once a week to take blood-pressure measurements and to offer presentations on such topics as diabetes and traumatic brain injuries.
Credit Rebecca Sheir / American Homefront
/
American Homefront
Nursing students from the University of Massachusetts visit the Women's Program once a week to take blood-pressure measurements and to offer presentations on such topics as diabetes and traumatic brain injuries.

She struggled with depression and self-esteem issues long before she enlisted. She thought being in the military might help.

"I was thinking I was going to get some sort of approval and pat on the back," she said.

Instead, Page got verbally harassed -- called "whore," "fat," and "bitch" -- and she fell into a culture of drinking."I remember going through Walmart after work one day; this is when I was drinking," she recalled, "and I wanted to crawl under a rock and die because a lady stopped with her daughter and pointed to me and said, 'See honey? That's a hero.'"

She confided in a therapist, but said he threatened to have her thrown out of the military. In the end, she was allowed to resign with an honorable discharge.

After rotating through several co-ed detox programs for veterans, she found the Women's Program.

"I haven't had a drink since," she said.By 2020, the number of female veterans is expected to reach 2.2 million. So Scoco said there's an intense need for more gender-specific services. But demand for women-only services vastly exceeds supply. For the sixteen rooms in Massachusetts, the Women's Program often has a waiting list and has received referrals and applications from as far away as Hawaii.

"There are women that have served the hell out of our country, and they're not being recognized, and they need to be," she said. "They need to be treated not the same way as males, but they need to be treated. Period."

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio – WUNC

Rebecca Sheir

Stand up for civility

This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.

Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play.

Related Content