Jackson Street Commons celebrates 10 years

May 18—For three years, United States Army Veteran Vinnie Jones donned his uniform every day in service to his country.

And when Jones left the military in 2005, he admitted he didn't know the transition back to civilian life was going to be as difficult as it was.

"I just didn't know what was going on around me," Jones told the Tribune. "I really didn't notice a lot of things. I mean, I just didn't know what to do. It was really hard. You just feel lost and that everybody else is just moving around while you're watching time pass by."

So to escape the confusion, Jones said he turned to drugs and self-medication while "bouncing around" from Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and various other cities in his quest to find "the answer" to what he was feeling.

And before he knew it, Jones, a man who signed up to fight and possibly die for his country, didn't have a home of his own.

There are thousands of stories just like Jones' too.

According to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, veteran homelessness increased 7.4% from 2022 to 2023.

That statistic was collected using a Point-In-Time Count conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which annually estimates the number of people, including veterans, without permanent housing on any given night in America, per the VA's website.

But there is also hope, the VA added.

"Despite these increases, there is still an overall downward trend in veteran homelessness," the website stated. "The estimated number of veterans experiencing homelessness in the U.S. has declined by 52% since 2010."

And that's thanks in large part to facilities like Jackson Street Commons, a 27-bed apartment complex for homeless veterans near downtown Kokomo.

This past Thursday, Jackson Street Commons celebrated its 10{sup}th{/sup} anniversary.

Jones has been a resident there since day one.

Jackson Street Commons has changed Jones' life, he said.

It's also saved his life too.

Because that's the power of a place like Jackson Street Commons, especially for the men and women who have been fortunate enough to call it home during life's rough patches.

FULFILLING A NEED

In 2011, Howard County reportedly had the state's highest per capita number of homeless veterans.

This is according to Angie Ciski, director of community services for the Family Services Association of Howard County.

To address that issue, FSA helped lead the charge for a facility to be built that would house those veterans experiencing homelessness in a permanent supportive housing environment.

That idea eventually became brick and mortar in the form of Jackson Street Commons, a $3.5 million project that's also mortgage-free, made possible through federal grants and community contributions.

And the facility itself is extra special, Ciski noted, because it's "low barrier" housing.

"We actually operate under something called the Housing First Model," Ciski said. "Housing First, in a nutshell, is this. You take those folks in our community that are experiencing chronic homelessness and are dealing with disabling conditions that have been a barrier to maintaining stable housing. Then if you provide that stable housing piece first and easy access to supportive services, they're going to be more successful.

"Because when you're literally homeless and living on the streets or in places not meant for human habitation, even sometimes in emergency shelters, that's a big monkey to have on your back," Ciski added. "So our mantra is stable housing is the foundation for these folks to be able to pursue other health and personal goals."

Tammy Price is a program manager at Jackson Street Commons and the only full-time person on staff.

Along with agreeing with Ciski about the initial need for Jackson Street Commons, Price also noted she's seen the impact of the facility firsthand.

"It's cool because I get to actually work with the residents and see them when they first come in," she told the Tribune. "And they'll say, 'I have an address?' It's something we take for granted. And then they get keys, and they're so excited to just have keys to a place of their own. It's so humbling to see."

Working with the residents is one of the best parts of her job too, Price added.

"Just getting to know the men and women here is phenomenal," she said. "You have to be here to really see it. I've been here for two years in September, and from where I started to where I am today, I've connected so much with the residents here. And just to see them change over time too, that's what we love to see are the ways they grow through being here and using our services."

Because being a homeless veteran can often be a label, the women said, a stigma.

And the best way to break a stigma is through education.

"I had somebody tell me once, 'My country taught me how to go to war but not how to come back from war,'" Ciski said. "I also remember a VA rep said something to me shortly after we opened. He said, 'We have to help them get their honor back.' Because being homeless, they've lost that dignity. ... So we as a society need to see that these are people too that deserve to be seen, and we just need to meet them where they are with love."

That's how you measure success, the women both said.

Ciski and Price said you can also measure the overall success of Jackson Street Commons by the actual residents too.

Many of the facility's "alumni" (Ciski's phrase for those residents who have moved away), have now gone on to help others in similar situations.

CELEBRATING SUCCESS

U.S. Army veteran Erica Southwick still remembers leaving Iraq with the sound of her platoon sergeant's warning in her ears.

"He said, 'Okay guys, the war is just now really getting ready to begin,'" she told the Tribune. "I didn't understand what that meant until about 10 years ago."

When Southwick returned home from military duty, she said she didn't really get connected with other veterans, and she also didn't know how to cope with what she was feeling.

Then her long-term partner passed away, followed eventually by her mother.

Southwick turned to drugs to cope, and she ended up in prison.

After serving one of her sentences but still being on the hook for another, she fled the area and ended up in a dangerous domestic violence situation that almost killed her.

Southwick then came back to Howard County, turned herself into authorities and got into Veterans Court and Gilead House.

That led her to an opening at Jackson Street Commons, where she was a resident for two years.

These days, Southwick is a peer technician inside the detox center at Turning Point.

She also has her own house now and a life she said she loves.

And she owes it all to Jackson Street Commons.

"This place just supplies chance and hope," she said. "When you're in a constant state of failure and depression, it's horrible to get out of it without guidance. A lot of us, when we're in that situation of homelessness, don't want to admit that we don't know what we're doing. So I definitely think that this place has filled in the cracks.

"And this place will just continue to be as important in the future too," Southwick added, "because we still have them (soldiers) coming home."