“ With Veterans Day [ coming up ], it ’ s like opening up a cauterized wound , as well as hope that there will be relief .”

-Matthew Aland U . S . Marine Corps Veteran

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He stayed for seven months until the U . S . Department of Housing and Urban Development gave him a voucher for an apartment . “ I was out of a job and needed a place to live [ but ] I couldn ’ t afford anywhere to live in Orange County . I knew I had to live in Orange County . I knew I had to be productive and I liked school ,” Aland said of why he eventually enrolled at Santa Ana College . The Mental Health Association of Orange County on Main Street also offers services to help local homeless veterans . There , they are able to wash their clothes , store their belongings during business hours and are provided bus passes and other resources to help them transition into permanent housing . An estimated 15,000 people sleep without a roof over their head in Orange County every night , with nearly 500 of those living

inside Santa Ana ’ s Civic Center , according to 2-1-1 Orange County , a nonprofit that provides health and human resources in the area . Twice a week Matthew Fink , a U . S . Marine Corps Veterans Outreach assessor for the mental health association , searches the Civic Center for homeless veterans with mental health conditions . He offers services to those who have a hard time transitioning from their military routine to civilian life . “ We come home and some of us fall hard and fast , and if no one is there to help you back up , you stay down ,” said Fink . “ That ’ s why the suicide rate is as high as it is .” An estimated 20 veterans commit suicide daily , according to the latest statistics released last July by the U . S . Department of Veterans Affairs . “ Veterans may be reluctant to seek and accept help due to fear

of police , distrust in government , and are weary of civilians who have a negative stigma on them ,” said Fink . “ Their transition to civilian life is emotionally difficult .” For Santa Ana ’ s homeless veterans , there is now more hope for housing . On Oct . 5 , the first transitional around-the-clock shelter in Orange County , the Courtyard , opened at the old Orange County Transportation Association bus depot after it received $ 1.4 million from the Orange County Board of Supervisors in September . The shelter will have free rent for a year , and will be eligible to renew its services for an additional year . “ Our homeless population , many of whom are veterans who honorably served our country , deserve our attention and a helping hand ,” Andrew Do , Orange County supervisor , said in a statement released by Midnight Mission .

The Courtyard will have programs to link homeless , including veterans with or without mental health issues , to local institutions like Veterans First that will provide them with transitional housing . After hitting emotional rock bottom and then finding assistance from not only the VA , but also the Housing Authority and Santa Ana College , Aland is thankful for it all . He currently takes honors classes for biology and still visits the Veterans Resource Center , where he is currently working on a portrait of a slain soldier who grew up in Santa Ana . “ With Veterans Day [ coming up ], it ’ s like opening up a cauterized wound . It ’ s a little bit of apprehension towards the pain associated with that , as well as hope that there will be relief ,” said Aland . “ But mostly , it ’ s gratitude for where I am .”