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Mr. Johnson. Photos by Jason Ruiz.<\/em><\/p>\n A Team AMVETS Welcome Home Moving truck parked outside Mr. Johnson\u2019s recently acquired apartment on Pacific Avenue. It\u2019s clad in patriotic colors and full of household necessities that will be given to Johnson, but one item in particular will ensure that this Vietnam veteran can deflate the blow-up mattress he\u2019s been spending his nights on. Johnson has been waiting for this day for over a month. The 58-year-old hasn\u2019t had a bed of his own for over two years, but today that streak will come to an end. As the movers maneuver through the tile hallways of his apartment, Johnson sits on the edge of his new mattress and stares forward, nearly at a loss for words.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a blessed day,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI\u2019m smiling inside and out.\u201d<\/p>\n AMVETS (American Veterans) was formed in August of 1943 while the allied forces were still fighting the Third Reich. It is the only Congressionally chartered veterans\u2019 organization that honors those that served their country honorably by offering membership eligibility. Team AMVETS Department of California Service Foundation<\/a> is a non-profit organization which relies on donations and the revenue from their thrift stores to fund multiple programs that directly benefit California veterans.<\/p>\n The Welcome Home Program<\/a>, which delivers free, donated furniture to veterans who\u2019ve recently acquired housing through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, launched Thanksgiving Day 2012 and has furnished nearly 1,400 California homes through October of this year. Because of the high demands placed on its Los Angeles post, The Team AMVETS San Diego Post 1775 handles deliveries in Orange County and Long Beach in addition to San Diego County. Since the Spring of 2013 the non-profit has made 216 deliveries to Long Beach veterans.<\/p>\n Mitch Mitcham, a National Guard veteran and manager of the Welcome Home Program operating out of the San Diego post orchestrates the delivery. Their day started at 0600 hours, and after a three-hour drive in traffic they\u2019re running a little late for their first delivery. Wearing a garrison hat with pins recognizing his service, Mitcham laid out the few simple rules he operates under. Mr. Johnson will be treated like a paying customer even though Team AMVETS will receive no payment for the furniture they\u2019re unloading into his apartment which, prior to their arrival, contained only an inflatable mattress, two plastic patio chairs and a collapsable food tray. But they\u2019ll also express appreciation for his time spent in the Army.<\/p>\n For Mitcham, there are five words that he stresses above all else as he interacts with the veterans, ones that he says aren\u2019t spoken often enough.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to treat these veterans like veterans and not homeless individuals and you have to say, as many times as possible, \u2018Thank you for your service,\u2019\u201d Mitcham said, recalling a Vietnam veteran who broke into tears, stating that Mitcham was the first person to ever to express appreciation for his service. “That\u2019s an underestimated form of greeting for a veteran, some of whom have never been thanked for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitcham worked for a major retailer for nearly two decades, but because of his veteran status and Team AMVETS’ emphasis on seeking out veterans to fill positions, he was recruited to manage the thrift stores. Mitcham said he wanted to do more to help homeless veteran population in the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to do something a little more meaningful and leave a footprint that was beyond the stock price of the company,\u201d Mitcham said. \u201cFor many of them, this is the first shelter they\u2019ve had, first furniture they\u2019ve had in years. I\u2019m sure that if you went home today and all of your furniture vanished, you would suddenly have an appreciation for having a place to sit down, sleep or set your keys down which most people take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n The tight confines of some Long Beach apartment complexes have forced the team to be creative when delivering bulky items. Manny Morales, a Team AMVETS driver said they\u2019ll go to whatever lengths possible to complete the delivery.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t just say no,\u201d Morales said. \u201cThe veterans are excited, they\u2019re getting a new fridge or couch. So we find a way to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The impact that the program has made in its short existence is evident in the form of stocky, tattooed volunteer sitting in the back row of the 15-passenger van that Mitcham drives ahead of the delivery truck. Tyler Tomson, a 26-year-old Afghanistan War veteran, was one of Mitcham’s deliveries. Now after becoming a member of the San Diego post, Tomson volunteers to help deliver to other veterans in need.<\/p>\n Tomson deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and again in 2011, serving multiple tours as a combat engineer where it was his job to clear routes of roadside improvised explosive devices (IED\u2019s). He explained that when he came home he had some mental issues and ended up in a Texas penitentiary. He moved to Southern California where his only family was located, but was homeless for nearly a year because of the difficulty of finding a job.<\/p>\n He decided to give back because of the feeling he got when the moving truck showed up to his home. He wanted to be able to provide that feeling to his brothers and sisters in arms who were in need just like he was.<\/p>\n Despite homeless veteran statistics trending downward since 2009 (down nearly 24%), The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress (AHAR)<\/a> placed the homeless veteran population at just under 58,000. California is home to the largest fraction of that number, with 15,179 homeless vets according to the report. Of those over 15,000 veterans, nearly 70 percent were without shelter. At the time of the report, Los Angeles County had the largest concentration of homeless veterans (6,291) which was over 40 percent of California\u2019s total. The United States Department of Veterans\u2019 Affairs has pledged to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015.<\/p>\n![\"Vets02\"](\"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Vets02.jpg\")
In addition to a brand new bed (Welcome Home doesn\u2019t take used mattresses) the program delivers pots and pans, a $100 gift card to spend at a Team AMVETS thrift store, and depending on funding, a gift card for groceries. The veterans are also presented with an AMVETS t-shirt and suicide prevention material and are encouraged to join their local post.<\/p>\n![\"Vets01\"](\"https:\/\/staging-live.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Vets01.jpg\")
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\u201cI know from experience from having nothing and really having a hard time just getting one foot on the ground, it\u2019s really nice to see people having the opportunity to get their lives back together,\u201d Tomson said. \u201cWith the furniture and getting a place you kind of feel normal again. You feel like you’re part of society and part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
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