Photos and text by MERQUIT GARCIA and STEPHANIE JENSEN

About one of every three homeless men in the United States once donned a uniform and served in the U.S. armed forces, according to the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers. Roughly half suffer from mental illness and/or drug addiction. Of the homeless veterans, two-thirds served for more than three years and one-third served in combat zones.

Veterans Day offers a time to reflect on the sacrifices that have been made to ensure the safety and freedom of U.S. citizens. Many military members paid the ultimate price for their country and many more continue to struggle to live in the country they fought to defend.

The Community for Creative Non-Violence is one of the largest homeless shelters in the United States. It is also one of the few shelters that provides housing 24 hours-per-day, seven days per week. It houses approximately 750 homeless at any given time. The shelter is currently preparing for an influx of residents that come to the shelter in the colder winter months. It will open up a hypothermia unit to accommodate homeless suffering from extreme weather.

Most of the volunteers and the staff who work in the shelter were once homeless. Many first came to the group as residents with mental, physiological, physical and personal problems that they have now overcome.

Skip Watkins, who was once the executive director of Community for Creative Non-Violence, currently works as a representative of the Coalition of Homeless Housing Providers.

“The reason why CCNV was founded was to help veterans from the Vietnam War,” said Watkins. He said most of the homeless veterans at the group served in Vietnam and Korea. He said most of them came back with chronic diseases, and with psychological and physical injuries that prevented them from going back to normal civilian life.

Veteran’s Profiles:

CORLISS FRANKLIN, “Coco”

“I am the last lady veteran in this shelter. I remember when we were eight, but all the others have left us,” Corliss “Coco” Franklin said.

Corliss “Coco” Franklin: director of the women’s floor at the Community for Creative Non-Violence.

Franklin is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm. She became homeless and addicted to drugs after her son died and ended up at Community for Creative Non-Violence in 2005.

“I did many stupid things after the death of my only child… All veterans deal with war differently, some deal with drugs, some deal with alcohol,” Franklin said.

Now, she works in the shelter as the director of the women’s floor. She still lives at the shelter but is getting ready to move.

“I stayed here by my choice. First, I was asked to help, and then I was named director of the women’s floor,” Franklin said.

She said every day is a great day and she is very grateful for the Community for Creative Non-Violence.

“In here, I use some of my… frustration to do something for somebody else. And now I am ready to walk away feeling better about myself…It’s all about taking the negative things that have happen to you in life and turning them into something positive,” Franklin said.

ERNEST MATTOX, “Ernie”

Police dropped Ernest Mattox, 67, in front of the shelter two and a half years ago.

“I was blind, I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t know what was happening. They picked me up and threw me outside the shelter in the snow,” Mattox said.

Ernest Mattox: deputy director of infirmary for Community for Creative Non-Violence.

James Burton, a head staff member, picked him up, washed and fed him. Burton took Mattox to get medical treatment for his eyes which suffered from extreme case of cataracts. The Veterans Affairs hospital helped Ernest, thanks to Community for Creative Non-Violence. They performed surgery and brought his sight back.

“Coming to CCNV was a blessing from God,” Mattox said.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1962 until 1965. He trained soldiers who went to Vietnam and was stationed in Germany. He sees his experience in the Army as positive.

“It was there where I learned about discipline and about respect,” Mattox said.

After his service in the Army, Mattox worked on a construction team for the D.C. Metro transit system and served in a maintenance capacity for a building that was later closed down. He was left without income and ended up living on the streets.

Now Mattox works at Community for Creative Non-Violence as the deputy director of infirmary. His sight is almost 20/20.

PAUL A. COAD

Paul A. Coad, 53, volunteered for the U.S. Army when he was 21 and served in the Vietnam War.

Paul A. Coad: current resident of Community for Creative Non-Violence.

Coad, who is now a recovering drug addict, said, “It’s a different battle I got to fight right now. It is more sneaky fighting this ‘civilian war’ than a military war because in the fields, you know who is your target and you have a gun…It’s hard to adapt into civilian life….I am slowing adapting back here.”

ROBERT C. JONES

Robert C. Jones, 60, volunteered for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era. He said he worked with missiles during his service on military bases in Key West, Germany and Korea.

Robert C. Jones: current resident of Community for Creative Non-Violence.

DONALD STUART

Donald Stuart is a veteran of the Cold War. He served as an HT3 technician from 1975-1979, living on an aircraft carrier for most of his time. When his time was up, he was admitted to a mental ward for schizophrenia. He has been at the shelter for two years.

Donald Stuart: current resident of Community for Creative Non-Violence.

“I could only find dead-end jobs. For a while, I was a cleaner at Dunkin Donuts. I always felt like I was overqualified for the jobs I was finding,” Stuart said.

He said he has a hard time working now because of a gallbladder problem and his doctor advised against working.

SAYID ABOUI SAIJIDI

Sayid Aboui Saijidi is a veteran of the Iranian Army. He served as a pilot during Iran’s conflict with Iraq. Eventually he moved to the United States. He had a wife and children, and found a job as a car salesman. He succeeded quickly, earning as much as $5,000 a week.

Sayid Aboui Saijidi: current resident of Community for Creative Non-Violence.

“It was too much money for me. I didn’t know what to do with it so I started spending it on drugs,” Saijidi said.

After that, he lost his family, his home and his job. Saijidi said he has gotten off drugs and is turning his life around while at the shelter. He has been approved for housing in Potomac and is looking forward to moving on.