In America, 35,574 veterans are homeless, 1.25 million receive food stamps, and 1.7 million lack proper health care.
“The words homeless and veteran should never be used in the same sentence,” says Diane Nazzaro, the new executive director of the Ballston Spa–based Veterans & Community Housing Coalition. “People want to help veterans, but there aren’t as many services out there as you’d think.”
Nazzaro, whose father was in the Navy and whose uncle fought in Vietnam, came to VCHC this September after nearly a decade working at AIM Services. She inherited a dedicated team of staff and volunteers—some of whom are actually veterans VCHC helped get back on their feet—as well as several transitional and permanent housing facilities for veterans located throughout Saratoga County. (VCHC supports veterans in a total of seven counties.) She also inherited a behemoth yet crucial project: Foreverly House, a transitional home for female veterans and their children that, at press time, Nazzaro hoped to open in November.
“We’ve noticed that in transitional houses, traditionally children aren’t able to come,” Nazzaro says. In other words, in order to get the help they need, mothers have to leave their children with family members, or worse: in foster care. “We want to be able to support mothers and their children—and keep them together.”
So far, $750,000 has been raised for Foreverly House, but more fundraising is needed to run the facility. “This population isn’t going anywhere,” Nazzaro says. “Our biggest goal is providing person-centered supports to veterans on their terms. What do they want, and how can we help?”
Nazzaro is one of 10 honorees featured in the holiday issues of Saratoga Living and Capital Region Living. Join him and nine others at our 6th annual Capital Region Gives Back event, returning to Putnam Place at 6pm on December 11.