Shannon Smith, 10 runs to her new home for the first time recently in Bossier City. The Smith family received help from the VA and the Volunteers of America to get into their new rental home. / Jim Hudelson/The TimesDec. 24, 2011 - Brett and Ida Smith are home after a five-year journey that tested their faith and forced them to face the specter of homelessness.
This morning the Smiths and their three children will wake in a place of their own with groceries in the pantry after spending nearly five years in a 40-foot-by-16-foot mobile home with Ida Smith's mom north of Shreveport. A pile of surprises from Santa will be waiting under the tree.
Logan, 17, and Alison, 13, took turns sleeping on the floor. Shannon, 10, slept in a king-sized bed with her parents. The mobile home didn't have heat so the family depended on a gas stove and electric space heaters for warmth. The home also lacked adequate hot water.
The Smiths moved back to Shreveport after Brett Smith lost his job with an insurance company in Indianapolis, Ind., in 2006. The couple couldn't keep up payments on their home there and filed bankruptcy. They moved in with Ida Smith's mother until they could get back on their feet.
"We cleaned up the house like we were selling it and left. We have a storage building full of things up there," Ida Smith said. "We left thinking, 'It'll be a year.'"
Brett Smith picked up retail work in and around Shreveport but nothing turned into a permanent position. Still, they managed to provide for their children, including birthday and Christmas celebrations. When the most recent job ended in August he nearly gave up. read more>>>
Dec 24, 2011 - Local veterans were treated to a Christmas party Saturday, complete with gifts from perfect strangers. HELP Las Vegas Veterans Apartments throws the annual party to help disabled vets who were once homeless.
"We do this every year. People in the community come together, and we do a program called Adopt-a-Vet, and we get all the vets adopted," Tina Howard with HELP Las Vegas Veterans Apartments said.
Many veterans say this time of year is often tough and sometimes lonely. read more>>>
Dec. 23, 2011 - There have been many Christmases in Keith L. Robinson Sr.'s life when he either had nowhere to go or was soon back on the street once the festivities had ended.Now, for the first time in his adult life, the 49-year-old Army veteran has a home to call his own and is even having family members over for Christmas.
"I can truly say that I'm a productive member of society," Robinson said.
Robinson was one of several veterans who recently moved into Montgomery apartments with the help of a partnership between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The program is the least the country can do for people who have put their lives on the line, said Al Bloom, public affairs officer with the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System. read more>>>
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