Samantha Astley, Supportive Services for Veteran Families coordinator, holds an award Catholic Charities Diocese of Camden staff received for their outreach to homeless veterans. Also pictured in the Camden office, from left, SSVF case workers Carlos Roman, Emily Reid, Rebekah Rosado and Brianna Tiernan.
In accepting the 2021-2022 Homeless Veterans Outreach Award for Catholic Charities Diocese of Camden, Samantha Astley kept the attention on those she calls the real heroes.
“We are here to serve those who have served us,” she said of the servicemen and women helped by Catholic Charities’ Supportive Services for Veteran Families.
Astley, SSVF coordinator, was presented the award by the American Legion, Department of New Jersey, earlier this month during a ceremony in Wildwood.
“It’s very humbling to get this award. It shows that the work we’re doing is being seen in the community and felt in the community. All of us who work with the SSVF program have family members who are active duty or veterans, so we are making them proud.”
Supportive Services for Veteran Families aims to provide housing stability for low-income, at-risk and homeless veterans. Explained Astley, “Our goal as a program is to house the homeless veterans, but to also keep them in housing. We want to make sure there is no veteran on the street, in the shelter or facing eviction.”
Brianna Tiernan, senior case manager for Camden/Gloucester Counties, said many of the veterans she works with are from the Vietnam or post-9/11 eras. “There’s so much data that goes into homelessness. But the veterans are not just a data point. Everyone has a story.”
Those who work with SSVF services throughout the Diocese of Camden describe the program as a critical resource for veterans, many of whom suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. Rebekah Rosado can testify to that first-hand, having seen the effects of PTSD in members of her family after 9-11 and serving in war zones overseas.
“When they come back, they don’t know how to be part of society as a civilian anymore,” said Rosado, senior case manager for Camden/Gloucester Counties. “Often, many return with mental health or addiction issues … they tend to lose their jobs, and family and friends disappear. That’s why we are here, to help them reintegrate into society and learn the ropes again. They deserve dignity.”
To that end, SSVF works closely with other community partners to ensure all of a veteran’s needs are being met. Once a year, staff attend the Atlantic City Regional Stand Down, which brings together a host of different organizations offering support in areas such as health care, food and job security, legal services, veterans affairs and more. Additional Mobile Stand Downs are held around South Jersey during the year.
Between working the Stand Downs and being present in the communities in which they serve, “veterans see Catholic Charities out and about and get to know us as people, not an entity, which makes them feel more comfortable,” Astley said.
“At a recent Stand Down, a veteran who we are working with came over and gave us all hugs. That changes your whole mood,” she said with a smile.
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