Carol Hriczov, president of the Universal Benevolence Center (UBC) in Suwanee, says it will be held Thursday night at 6:00 at the Fair Street Neighborhood Center.
Hriczov says the September 24-25 event, which will be held in conjunction with American Legion Post #328 in Gainesville and other veterans organizations, will be something of a "supermarket" of services for homeless vets. As AccessNorthGa.com reported in early May, among the services that will be offered, free of charge, will be haircuts, showers, food, clothing, personal identification cards, Veterans Administration benefits, job opportunities, medical, dental, vision care, etc. It will be held in Oakwood at a location to be announced.
Also helping with the sponsorship are American Legion Post #7, Vietnam Veterans of American Chapter 772, Marine Corps League Detachment 665, Disabled American Veterans, and Veterans Community Outreach.
Such an event is called a "Stand Down," using an old military term. In times of war, exhausted combat units requiring time to rest and recover were removed from the battlefields to a place of relative security and safety.
Today, "Stand Down" refers to a community-based intervention program designed to help the nation's estimated 200,000 homeless veterans "combat" life on the streets. Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD) organized the nation's first Stand Down in 1988. Since then, the program has been widely replicated nationwide.
Today, more than 200 Stand Downs take place across the country every year.
"The program has become recognized as the most valuable outreach tool to help
homeless veterans in the nation today," according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/6/239475