Bob Kerr: An operation that might never end;
Providence Journal. Providence, R.I.: Sep 13, 2006.

Members of the National Guard, home from Iraq or Afghanistan, are starting to show up at Operation Stand Down. They present a different kind of problem than veterans who have shown up before them. They aren't homeless. They're just caught in that uncertain place between fighting soldier and peaceful civilian.

Al Signorelli, the executive director of Stand Down, says it isn't that Rhode Island employers are turning their backs on their returning Guard employees. It's a matter of timing. The Guard members aren't certain when they'll be able to get back to their civilian jobs, so it isn't always possible to have those jobs ready and waiting for them. It can be weeks sometimes.

They get caught in a financial squeeze. Bills don't get paid. So they head for Operation Stand Down, which is sort of like a military operation without the chain of command. It gets to the heart of things. It adjusts to whatever strange experience military service can throw its way.

At 7 Friday morning, the 13th Operation Stand Down weekend begins at Diamond Hill State Park in Cumberland. It runs through Sunday. The tents go up and a bunch of volunteers begin filling needs that might range from a bad tooth to a bad discharge to family pressures to homelessness.

It is a big comfort zone set up for people who sometimes have trouble sitting down and talking about the things that are messing up their lives. Veterans who have been living on the streets have been picked up, brought to Stand Down and hooked up with job counselors, doctors, mental-health counselors, housing specialists -- whoever and whatever their needs require.

Some might need a Social Security card to prove who they are. Some might need to upgrade a discharge that is getting in the way of finding work. And some, of course, might need a decent place to live.

Operation Stand Down was launched by veterans who saw too many other veterans with no place to go. They know the territory. They know the little things that can grow into big problems. And over the years they have created a network of people who keep coming back because it just feels so right to be there.

Johnson & Wales provides the chow, the Department of Veterans Affairs provides nursing services and doctors who don't even want their names in the paper provide medical treatment.

"It's sort of catching," said Signorelli. "People who've been helped come back as volunteers."

Last year, 132 veterans showed up.

"One thing we're seeing more of now is families," said Signorelli. "It used to be just individuals."

He said it appeared a few years ago that Operation Stand Down had turned the corner on veteran homelessness. But the problem is increasing.

"I've got three guys staying in the rec room right now," he said.

Since it started, Stand Down has opened residential facilities in Johnston and West Warwick, and next month it will open an education and training center in West Warwick.

It has come a long way, and the problems it deals with in its unique way just keep on coming. Wars continue, people who have served are called to serve again and coming home sometimes brings a pile of trouble that nobody could have expected.

If you're a homeless veteran, or a veteran with problems that won't go away, head for Diamond Hill State Park this weekend. If you need a ride, or have questions concerning what's available at Operation Stand Down, call (800) 861-8387.