Milt Merrick, a World War II veteran, has a new cause: helping homeless veterans get a job and a place to live.
“I just want to help veterans,” he said. “These guys fought for their country, and they’re living under bridges and stuff like that.”
On Tuesday morning, the 84-year-old Littleton resident sat at a table at the St. Francis Center, working as a volunteer on the annual Point-in-Time study conducted by the Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative, which counts the number of homeless individuals on one day of the year.
Veterans are his special focus.
“I talked to one kid this morning,” said Merrick. “He was 24. He said he was mentally ill, disabled from serving in the Iraq war, chronically depressed. He said he’d been out of work and basically homeless since being discharged in March 2008.”
In 2010, homeless veterans accounted for one in 150 veterans and about one in nine veterans living in poverty, according to the latest statistics on homeless veterans, the October 2011 supplemental report to the 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.
During a 12-month period starting in October 2009, an estimated 144,842 veterans spent at least one night in emergency-shelter or transitional- housing programs, accounting for 11.5 percent of all homeless adults in the U.S.
Merrick got involved last fall, when he fired up his computer and found an e-mail from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that announced its $930,000 grant to Denver Options for its Homes for All Veterans project.
The 20-year-old nonprofit, which helps adults with traumatic brain injury, in 2008 began working with soldiers and veterans with TBI and then got the idea to create a plan to combat veteran homelessness.
Curious about the program, Merrick landed himself a meeting with Dee Drake, the program manager for Homes for All Veterans.
“He’s a great example of people who’ve served our country,” she said. “He’s resilient, interested in helping others, energetic and willing to take risks.”
His energy is fueled by regular exercise — three times a week, he runs and walks a combined 5 miles.
And that energy is focused. When he developed a passion for helping homeless veterans, he sought assistance from a friend, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Sal Villano, a Vietnam vet who heads the Forgotten Heroes campaign.
“He’s a go-getter,” said Villano. “He just wants to do something to get these veterans off the street.”
They have a shared vision of creating a homeless shelter for veterans, which would allow residents to develop rapport and support for one another.
Last month, they pitched their idea at a meeting with people from Gov. John Hickenlooper’s office, and Villano plans to work many of his connections to expedite things.
“If we can get a movement together behind this, it can happen,” Villano said. “I’ve pinned a lot of ribbons and medals on war heroes. They sacrificed for us, and now it’s time to do payback.”
Merrick, who keeps in his Hyundai Tucson SUV a stash of VA brochures on ending veteran homelessness, vows to work until their dream comes true.
“These guys put their lives on the line,” he said. “It’s so sad to see them out of work.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
