Robert

After serving five years in the Marine Corps Reserve, Robert got a job at the shipyard and got married, but the marriage ended after two years. He married again and had a son, now thirty eight, and moved to North Carolina where he did concrete repair and worked at a turkey plant for several years. When his sister lost her eyesight, he returned to Virginia to care for her and her children until she passed away a few years later. Over the years Robert’s own health declined, and he was diagnosed with kidney disease. He applied for disability, but unable to work a full time job, he had trouble maintaining a place to live and turned to The Union Mission when he needed a place to stay. In 2015, Robert got an apartment through a city program that paid his rent for a year, but when that program ended he again turned to the Mission and applied for Veterans benefits. They were denied because he had to have served active duty for 180 days to qualify, and he had only served 179. “Now I’ve been on a waiting list for housing for almost two years. My Case Manager is helping me and told me I could stay until a place opened up.” He likes to keep busy and helps out when he can. Last September, he joined the Damascus Program, a program for older men providing discipleship and life skills training. “I thank God for the Mission and this program. They understand that we all have problems, but they work with us and talk us through them. It helped me a whole lot, and I’ve seen it help so many others. It’s truly been a blessing.”