Legion to help homeless vets in Los Angeles

The American Legion is taking to the streets of Los Angeles to lend a helping hand to that city’s population of homeless veterans.

A team of Legion experts from the nation’s capital is in the City of Angels this week, holding a March 23 town hall meeting for veterans, meeting with Department of Veterans Affairs staff at the local VA hospital and regional office, and reaching out to the city’s homeless veterans – reportedly one of the largest in America.

“We are eager to see if VA is back on track with its West Los Angeles campus, and will eventually make more living quarters and services available to homeless veterans,” said Verna Jones, executive director of The American Legion in Washington, D.C.

“But that will take time and these men and women on the streets, who served our country honorably, need immediate assistance.”

VA came under fire for allowing its West Los Angeles campus to lease property and facilities to private companies and organizations that had nothing to do with assisting veterans.

Jones said that she, her staff members, and American Legion volunteers will gather at 6 p.m. on March 25 at Cloud Break Communities on 725 S. Hindry Ave. in Inglewood, Calif. From there, they will head into the streets to help homeless veterans get access to VA benefits they have earned through military service.

The American Legion operates many residences for homeless veterans across the country, and its Veterans Employment & Education Division in Washington advocates for homeless veterans on Capitol Hill.