Third time’s a charm

They say third time’s a charm and that’s the case for Army Veteran Paul.

The first two times Paul came to HVAF, he lived in transitional housing. Now, since 2021, Paul lives at one of HVAF’s Permanent Supportive Housing units: Veterans Villa.

HVAF has made sure to provide food and clothing for Paul. His case manager is helping him get to the root of his problems so he can live a happier life.

“He was rather depressed when he came. He was sullen, angry, and had a lot of struggles,” Paul’s case manager, April, said. “Now that he’s here, he understands he’s accepted completely for who he is.”

Improving his life

Because he’s more comfortable at Veterans Villa, April said Paul has opened up more about his problems and wants to work on ways to help himself. She said you might not see the changes overnight, or even in a few months, but over time you will see drastic improvements. And it’s a beautiful thing for her to see those changes.

Paul works nights, delivering the IndyStar newspapers to homes, and is happy to have a safe place to retreat to when he is done with work. He also likes to spend time with his fellow veteran residents, and April.

“I’m still suffering with issues, but I’m doing the best I can to do away with those issues,” Paul said. “Nobody’s perfect but April has been helping me humongously (sic).”

Next steps

April said the next steps for Paul is to help him find inpatient care so he can maintain sobriety and get back to some of his hobbies, which includes music and writing.

“He’s got a lot of strengths that we can bring out. So I envision him being instrumental in this community of helping other veterans re-find their voice and their creativity and their joy for life,” April said. “I see him being here for hopefully for a very long time and being happy and living life to the fullest.”

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