SB County Veteran Stand Down One Month Away
U.S. Navy veteran Sarah Ringler tallies her daily collection of plastic bottles for recycling.
“We do a lot of walking and digging, its like a scavenger hunt, you know what I mean?”, Ringler says.
Collecting and redeeming recyclables is how Sarah, her friend and their two dogs survive being homeless in Santa Maria.
“Its like a temporary thing you know what I mean?”, Ringler says, “hopefully we’ll be out of here soon, I don’t want to live this life, its not something I prefer, it works for right now, it gives us what we need to get out of here.”
“Some of things that we have added that we didn’t have the first two years is now we have a whole women’s center”, says Santa Barbara County Fifth District Supervisor who has organized the annual Veteran Stand Down for three years now.
“We had 20 veterans that were women show up and so we’ve got check-ups that are done by female doctors, we’ve got resume writing for them, we’ve have their own clothes, spa center, all kinds of different things for them”, Lavagnino says about this year’s event on Saturday, October 18 from 9am to 3pm at the Santa Maria Fairpark.
“I thought it was going to be something where they came, we fed them, we maybe give them some clothes and they take off, which would have been a great event”, Lavagnino says, “we’ve really transformed it to where we understand that its important for a guy to get a haircut, but now what we really want to do is connect them back into the community.”
“Now we’ve got employers that are coming to try and get them a job, we had 22 homeless veterans that we were able to house, we got some into detox, those are things that are actually going to help change their lives”, Lavagnino says, “we still provide the meals, and make sure they’ve got clothes and all those great kinds of things, but really getting them into the PTSD counseling that they need, all the VA checkups, dental work, all the things that are going to really impact their lives and get them connected back into the community is really important.”
The Stand Down can open the door to a whole new life for veterans of all ages.
“There was a guy who came last year that was losing his job, because he had lost his drivers license because he had a legal problem with child support payments”, Lavagnino says about the wide array of free services offered at the Stand Down, “we actually had Child Support there, we worked on his case, got a payment plan set-up, with the DMV there, Child Support went over and got his lien taken care of, he got his drivers license back and his employer was there, saw that he was okay, got his job back driving a truck, changed one guy’s life, if that’s all we did that day it was worth it.”
Lavagnino says donations of new clothing are needed and points out the Veteran Stand Down receives no taxpayer funding.
“What we’re really looking for at this point is (new) t-shirts, socks, underwear and towels, those are things we know we will run out of, those are always in need”.
All volunteers must attend training sessions before being cleared to work the event.
While the Stand Down attracts homeless veterans, all veterans are invited to attend the free event.
“We had over 460 veterans show up last year, 130 of those were homeless, and so there is a definite need out there”, Lavagnino says, “a lot of them will also bring a pet, we’ve got a huge pet zone where you can come and get your animal chipped, licensed and groomed and all types of things, you can bring your kids with you, we have a kids zone where they can have fun while you are over there getting the services you need.”
“That’s something that we are definitely looking for right now for sure”, Sarah Ringler says about the Stand Down next month, “we’ll go check it out, it sounds like a good deal, they don’t too much for veterans out here so it sounds like a good deal.”
In the meantime, Sarah, her friend and their two dogs roam the city with shopping carts, collecting bottles and looking for safe places to camp out at night.
“Nobody wants to do this for a living, I prefer to have my own place and a job and all that”, Ringler says, “look at it, its trash, its crazy, but it is was it is and you do what do, you gotta get it done to do what you gotta do to survive, I guess.”
To find out more about the 2014 Santa Barbara County Veteran Stand Down call (805) 346-8400 or visit www.sbcountystanddown.com.
nats – sarah
the stand down is welcome news for navy vet sarah ringler.
36:09
that’s something that we are definitely looking for right now, for sure, nobody wants to do this for a living, i prefer to have my own place and a job and all that.
36:55
i definitely feel like they owe me, look at it, its trash, its crazy, but it is was it is and you do what do so, you gotta get it done to do what gotta do to survive i guess.
in santa maria keith carls kcoy 12 central coast news.
nats – sarah
steve lavagnino – veterans stand down organizer
9-3, oct 18
4:35
some of things that we have added that we didn’t have the first two years is now we have a whole women’s center,
4:44
we had 20 women veterans that were women show up and so we’ve got check-ups that are done by female doctors, we’ve got resume writing for them, we’ve have their own clothes, spa center, all kinds of different things for them.
5:24
what we’re really looking for at this point is t-shirts, socks, underwear and towels those are things we know we will run out of, those are always in need
volunteers must attend training sessions before being cleared to work the event, 346-8400, sept 23
third year
7:43
i thought it was going to be something where they came, we fed them, we maybe give them some clothes and they take off, which would have been a great event,
7:52
we’ve really transformed it to where we understand that its important for a guy to get a haircut, but now what we really want to do is connect them back into the community, so now we’ve got employers that are coming to try and get them a job, we had 22 homeless veterans that we were able to house, we got some into detox, those are things that are actually going to help change their lives
8:12
we still provide the meals, and make sure they’ve got clothes and all those great kinds of things, but really getting them into the ptsd counseling that they need, all the va checkups, dental work, all the things that are going to really impact their lives and get them connected back into the community is really important.
no county money, some staff money or federal grant funds
8:58
the va here has been really good for us, they show up with the van as well to do medical checkups,
9:05
a lot of them will also bring a pet, we’ve got a huge pet zone where you can come and get your animal chipped, licensed and groomed and all types of things, you can bring your kids with you, we have a kids zone where they can have fun while you are over there getting the services you need.
9:22
we had over 460 veterans show up last year, 130 of those were homeless, and so there is a definite need out there.
9:29
22 of those were women, so we are seeing a move, a lot more women are coming back from the middle east and they’ve got their own special needs and so its kind of the changing face of the american veteran.
tracking the vets afterwards to see if its making a difference
10:48
there was a guy who came last year that was losing his job, because he had lost his license because he had a legal problem with child support payments, we actually had child support there, we worked on his case, got a payment plan set-up, with the dmv there, the child support went over and got his lien taken care of, he got his license, went back and his employer was there, saw that he was okay, got his job back driving a truck, changed one guy’s life, if that’s all we did that day it was worth it.
sarah ringler/navy veteran
aviation ordinance 2000 to 2004
32:20
its alright, it makes money, its not the best, it keeps food and whatever else we need you know
32:54
its like a temporary thing you know what i mean, hopefully we’ll be out of here soon, no i don’t want to live this life, its not something i prefer, it works for right now, it gives us what we need to get out of here
34:01
it has its ups and downs, do what we gotta do to survive, know what i mean.
35:07
yeah for sure, we’ll go check it out, it sounds like a good deal, they don’t too much for veterans out here so it sounds like a good deal.
35:37
we do a lot of walking and digging, its like a scavenger hunt, you know what i mean
36:09
that’s something that we are definitely looking for right now, for sure, nobody wants to do this for a living, i prefer to have my own place and a job and all that.
36:55
i definitely feel like they owe me, look at it, its trash, its crazy, but it is was it is and you do what do so, you gotta get it done to do what gotta do to survive i guess.
37:40
a lot of veterans out here, its crazy how many veterans are homeless.. you meet them all the time? all the time, there’s a lot of veterans out here doing nothing really.. it that right or is it wrong? its wrong.
