Film screening about homeless veterans organized by David
January 16 ,2007
Off the Beat: Film to shed light on homeless
veterans
by Dan Crowley, Daily Hampshire Gazette
by Dan Crowley, Daily Hampshire Gazette
City officials will cast a light on the travails of
homeless veterans next week when they screen an
award-winning documentary film at Northampton High
School.
When I Came Home tells the story of Iraq War veteran Herold Noel who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and lives out of his car in Brooklyn, N.Y. The screening is sponsored by the city's Veterans' Services Department and City Council's Social Services and Veterans Affairs Committee.
The 70-minute documentary, which screened at the Academy of Music in November during the Northampton Film Festival, also examines the wider issues facing homeless U.S. military veteransfrom Vietnam to Iraq - "who have to fight tooth-and-nail to receive the benefits promised to them by their government," according to a description of the film on www.whenicamehome.com.
"I think it's a movie the public really needs to see," said Ward 6 City Councilor Marianne L. LaBarge, who serves on the committee sponsoring the screening. "I don't think people really realize this is happening to veterans in our country."
The film, which contains adult language, is scheduled to run Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. in The Little Theatre at Northampton High School, and will be followed by a discussion. Audience members are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for the Pioneer Valley USO Food Pantry, which serves military families in need.
Ward 4 City Councilor David J. Narkewicz, a military veteran who serves on the council's Social Services and Veterans Affairs Committee, said the purpose of showing the film is, in part, to raise awareness about the plight of homelessness among veterans.
"We often hear the terms 'supporting our troops,'" said Narkewicz. "I think support has a lot of different meanings, and clearly the way we take care of veterans when they come home is part of how we support them."
On any given night, some 200,000 U.S. military veterans are homeless, and nearly 400,000 veterans experience homelessness over the course of a year, according to the federal government.
"Conservatively, one out of every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley, or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country," according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
The vast majority of homeless veterans are single and come from poor, disadvantaged communities; 45 percent suffer from mental illness; half have substance-abuse problems; and about 47 percent of all homeless veterans served during the Vietnam War era, according to the national organization. Narkewicz said he met with the film's director, Dan Lohaus, after "When I Came Home" first screened in the city in November. Lohaus gave Narkewicz a DVD of the film after the councilor expressed interest in presenting it to the public again.
"It was a very powerful film and very well received at the Academy," Narkewicz said. "We thought it was something more people should see."
As a veteran, Narkewicz said even he found aspects of the film "eye-opening."
"For a lot of people, it comes as a shock that there can be anybody coming back from Iraq that is homeless," he said.
When I Came Home tells the story of Iraq War veteran Herold Noel who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and lives out of his car in Brooklyn, N.Y. The screening is sponsored by the city's Veterans' Services Department and City Council's Social Services and Veterans Affairs Committee.
The 70-minute documentary, which screened at the Academy of Music in November during the Northampton Film Festival, also examines the wider issues facing homeless U.S. military veteransfrom Vietnam to Iraq - "who have to fight tooth-and-nail to receive the benefits promised to them by their government," according to a description of the film on www.whenicamehome.com.
"I think it's a movie the public really needs to see," said Ward 6 City Councilor Marianne L. LaBarge, who serves on the committee sponsoring the screening. "I don't think people really realize this is happening to veterans in our country."
The film, which contains adult language, is scheduled to run Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. in The Little Theatre at Northampton High School, and will be followed by a discussion. Audience members are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for the Pioneer Valley USO Food Pantry, which serves military families in need.
Ward 4 City Councilor David J. Narkewicz, a military veteran who serves on the council's Social Services and Veterans Affairs Committee, said the purpose of showing the film is, in part, to raise awareness about the plight of homelessness among veterans.
"We often hear the terms 'supporting our troops,'" said Narkewicz. "I think support has a lot of different meanings, and clearly the way we take care of veterans when they come home is part of how we support them."
On any given night, some 200,000 U.S. military veterans are homeless, and nearly 400,000 veterans experience homelessness over the course of a year, according to the federal government.
"Conservatively, one out of every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley, or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country," according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
The vast majority of homeless veterans are single and come from poor, disadvantaged communities; 45 percent suffer from mental illness; half have substance-abuse problems; and about 47 percent of all homeless veterans served during the Vietnam War era, according to the national organization. Narkewicz said he met with the film's director, Dan Lohaus, after "When I Came Home" first screened in the city in November. Lohaus gave Narkewicz a DVD of the film after the councilor expressed interest in presenting it to the public again.
"It was a very powerful film and very well received at the Academy," Narkewicz said. "We thought it was something more people should see."
As a veteran, Narkewicz said even he found aspects of the film "eye-opening."
"For a lot of people, it comes as a shock that there can be anybody coming back from Iraq that is homeless," he said.