THE PHILADELPHIA VETERANS MULTI-SERVICE & EDUCATION CENTER
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and got married. Marsha worked
in a civilian hospital. Took a break
to rack meat in the butchers’ department of a grocery store. Raised
three sons.
Still restless.
TURNING BACK
Seventeen years after she returned
from Vietnam, her rising anger finally burst. Too many veterans
homeless, without jobs, floundering in the backwash of waves of
combat. Too many military women
suffering sexual trauma.
In 1987 she began working with
the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-
GREATEST PERSON
OF THE WEEK
Service and Education Center,
which provided a safe, clean place
for veterans to gather, to secure VA
benefits and find a job, to get PTSD
counseling, a hot shower and haircut, a good lunch. Soon, she was
asked to be the director.
“It is too easy,” she explains, “to
turn your back and not be involved.”
She took over when the center’s
budget was $500,000. Now it runs
on $5 million a year, providing a
range of free services from computer repair training to transitional
housing—125 beds for men and 30
for homeless women. It is a warm
and safe place for veterans, a sanctuary against the chaos and danger of the streets. Here, veterans
help veterans assault the tangled
HUFFINGTON
11.11.12
David
Douglas
(left),
PVMSEC’s
accredited
Veteran
Service
Officer,
discusses
veterans’
benefits and
entitlements,
and is ready
to help file
a claim if
needed.