All Sioux Falls Area Veterans Get a Day of Relief

The term dates back to military operations during the Civil War and this year marks the fourteenth Veteran’s Stand Down Event at the Sioux Falls VFW on Friday.

Chuck Albrecht served in the Armed Forces and volunteers with the Sioux Falls Veteran’s Outreach Center. He says the event is geared toward supporting homeless Veterans.

“We have 225 new homeless Veterans in the Sioux Falls area. So what we do for one day is we give them and their family members flu shots, haircuts and information they might need about the VA medical system regardless of their housing status.”

Former homeless Veteran Mike Landon grew up in Minnesota and got hooked on drugs after serving in the Navy in the early 1970’s. He took a military approach to escaping addiction.

“If I’m going to stop this I have to make it the enemy. That’s basically what got me through. I also made sure I was with the right people and protected myself by staying out of places where I would be vulnerable. Over time it worked.”

Friday’s event will run from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the VFW on South Minnesota.

The status of Veterans who are considered homeless includes those who were on the streets, shelters, of other uninhabitable places, as well as Veterans who were housed but perhaps facing eviction or needed other community resources to prevent homelessness.

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