BUILDING HOPE
Air Force volunteers assemble new furniture at homeless veterans shelter in Uptown
A semi-truck carrying new furniture to a homeless veteran’s shelter in Uptown began leaking oil and a few volunteers laid down cardboard to soak it up.
Brand-new steel furniture was being shipped from New York to Pittsburgh to update the rooms, but all of the nuts and bolts for assembly were missing.
Volunteers even jumped into the dumpster to see if the parts were mistakenly tossed in the garbage. Things didn’t always go to plan.
But on Saturday morning, about 20 volunteers from the 911th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command, based in Moon, helped move old furniture out of the Shepherd’s Heart Veterans Home, assembling sturdy new bed frames, night stands and cupboards no matter what obstacles they faced.
“We have active military helping homeless veterans and there’s so much else they could be busy doing during the holidays,” said Nancy Lee Cochran, who is in charge of public relations for Shepherd’s Heart, which focuses on sheltering homeless veterans and reintegrating them into society.
Most homeless veterans at the shelter have been in active combat, she said, and so have many of the Air Force volunteers.
“They see what war can do,” Ms. Cochran said.
The living quarters at Shepherd’s Heart is referred to as the House of Hope and at any given time, 15 beds are open.
“It’s a small program by design,” said pastor Michael Wurschmidt. “Typically, nine of 10 [veterans] finish the program successfully.”
For some of the veterans, that means attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to stay sober or working toward finding a job and steady income by learning new computer skills.
Occupants typically stay for six to eight months, but if a tenant is experiencing psychological trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, they’re welcome to stay longer, Mr. Wurschmidt said.
John Voron, 57, served in the Navy in 1978, but had struggled with alcoholism and bipolar disorder most of his life, he said. After a car accident, he became addicted to the painkillers his doctor prescribed him.
On November 14, he came to the House of Hope. Mr. Voron said the new furniture looks nice, but amenities like AA meetings and church services are what matter most to him.
“You have to have a power greater than yourself to succeed,” Mr. Voron said. He’s four months clean, and he’s doing it for his granddaughter.
George Brown, 60, served in the Navy from 1977 to 1982.
He wears a black hoodie and a Steelers hat as he explains his duties at the shelter. He cooks, completes repairs and even teaches other veterans how to use the internet to write emails or sharpen their resumes.
“I’m so happy that [the Air Force] came to do this because us guys couldn’t do this ourselves,” he said.
The hallways on the second floor were crowded with unassembled pieces of furniture, black with wooden accents. Volunteers buzzed through the narrow hallways, carefully avoiding trampling over any of the veterans personal belongings.
Jessica Davis, a sergeant in the 911, brought her daughter and daughter’s boyfriend along with her at 8 a.m. to help haul old furniture down two flights of stairs at Shepherd’s Heart before new items were lugged up.
She reflected that the veterans were no different from herself or the rest of her squadron. At any point, they could find themselves in the same situation — so Sgt. Davis, 37, wanted to do her part.
“The holidays are the hardest for the veterans,” Sgt. Davis said. “That’s when you need to be there for them the most.”