KC event gives struggling vets a helping hand

Published Monday, June 5, 2006

KANSAS CITY (AP) - Ruben Ruiz came to Kansas City Municipal Court on Saturday with a predicament.

The down-on-his-luck Vietnam veteran, diabetic and half blind, had been evicted from his Blue Springs residential facility.

He was having trouble retrieving his belongings: his clothes, his medicine - even the urn with his wife’s ashes.

"I’m what you call homeless," Ruiz said.

But Saturday was Kansas City’s 14th Heart of America Stand Down event, in which homeless and struggling veterans can "stand down" from their battles and get some help rebuilding their lives.

For Ruiz and hundreds of other veterans, it was a time to share memories and stories, enjoy a hot meal, get mental health and substance abuse counseling, deal with medical and financial issues, and get legal help.

Most of the services were provided at the Manual Career & Tech Center. But more than 100 of the veterans also were able to deal with outstanding traffic offenses and other minor legal matters at Municipal Court.

That’s where Ruiz encountered lawyer Coulter deVries, an Army veteran who has volunteered for years at the Stand Downs.

"You hear more sad stories than you can shake a stick at," deVries said.

His goal, he said, is to "steer these guys in the right direction" and resolve the nagging legal problems that might keep them from finding a job or a home.

Later on Saturday, Ruiz said deVries had made arrangements for him to meet with the Blue Springs police today and retrieve his belongings.

Municipal Court Presiding Judge Joe Locascio said he and three colleagues - John Williams, Michael McAdam and Wayne Cagle - were happy to volunteer a Saturday morning for the veterans. Six prosecutors and about a dozen defense lawyers also volunteered their time.

"This is just a way to show appreciation for their service," Locascio said.

Many veterans were able to get old cases dismissed or resolved them by doing parks department community service Saturday at Mill Creek Park or Swope Park.

Back at the career center, volunteer Rob Dowdy was researching services for an ex-Navy SEAL who had served in Desert Storm in the early 1990s. The man had recently been beaten up and was living in an abandoned house.

But on Saturday he was able to take a shower and get some new clothes. Dowdy was working on getting him into a rehabilitation program in Leavenworth.

"These people are so proud they don’t want to ask for help," Dowdy said.

Kansas City attorney Art Fillmore, an Army lieutenant in Vietnam in 1969-1970, helped organize Kansas City’s first Stand Down in 1993. What began with about 75 homeless veterans has grown into a program that annually serves about 700.

In past years, the event stretched over two days, but Fillmore said cuts in Veterans Affairs grants reduced the event this year to one day.

It’s a lot of work to organize about 400 volunteers every year, but Fillmore said he knows it’s worthwhile when he runs into troubled veterans who have turned their lives around.

"It’s an incredible reward to see them," he said. "Some of our best volunteers came from the program."