Through VA-HOP program, local veteran finds stability

OMAHA, Neb.—Army veteran Rich Hobbs deployed to Iraq in June 2008.

He described it as an “intense” experience that left him with severe PTSD.

"Looking for danger in things that weren't really dangerous, which really manifested in my time being homeless," Hobbs said.

But that was not the only challenge he faced when he initially returned stateside – to Jacksonville, Florida.  He said transitioning back to civilian life was another wall he faced.

“I was kind of told, 'Just go ahead, link up with the VA,' which I did, eventually.  It just was kind of a culture shock for me without much knowledge of what that was going to look like.”

While being homeless, Hobbs said he ended up in jail several times.

However, one stay presented him with an opportunity.

“It was brought to my attention that the chaplain and their resources, they would offer to get you a bus ticket and send you where you'd like to go,” he said.  “And since my daughter was here in Omaha...I took that opportunity to come to Omaha to try and restart here and get on the right track and be close to her."

There were rough patches on that new path, though.  Hobbs said he ended up being homeless in Council Bluffs and had another brush with the law.

“Part of the sentence was I had the opportunity to go to in-patient treatment at the VA, so I did that after a couple months’ incarceration in Pottawattamie County.  I finished up treatment at the VA, then I moved into a transitional home at New Visions.  And then that's where the opportunity to [move to] The Salvation Army came to fruition."

That opportunity was through The Salvation Army’s VA Housing Opportunities Program (VA-HOP), which provides up to a year of community-based, temporary housing to homeless veterans and their families.  Its goal is to help vets transition to permanent housing.

“We started together in finding different housing options that were available around the Omaha metro,” Hobbs said.  “It wasn't really working out because there wasn't really much available until a certain apartment opened up where I still live today, and it was perfect."

He added that support was a huge relief during a time when he was struggling to make all his VA appointments while learning to grow and live independently.

“I was able to focus on the areas of life that needed attention: Being a present parent for my daughter, being a productive member of society again, learning how to live and grow back in the community that I had been living on the outskirts of for so long.”

All of which positively impacted his mental health and substance use recovery journeys.