ERIC HOWZE, CENTER, AND CHRISTINA FLEWELLEN-HOWZE, SECOND FROM RIGHT, LEAD NO HERO LEFT BEHIND. ALSO PICTURED ARE LOIS SHIRLEY, SALOAM BEY, CYNTHIA DAVIS, AND AT FAR RIGHT, REV. DR. JERMAINE MCKINLEY.
The support for veterans continues
The Pa. Department of Military and Veterans Affairs estimates that 11 percent of homeless adults in the U.S. are U.S. military veterans.
Pittsburgher Eric Howze knows that life all too well. For 10 years, he was a member of the U.S. Army, and was deployed to Iraq in 2004. Howze was honorably discharged in 2011, but upon his return to Pittsburgh, he found himself in another battle. He experienced periods of homelessness, telling the New Pittsburgh Courier back in 2018 how he had to sleep outside in front of buildings.
“No vehicle, no job, no one to really take me by the hand and help me and show me that there was a better life than being homeless,” Howze once said on KDKA Radio.
Howze and his wife, Christina Flewellen-Howze, are now the leaders of No Hero Left Behind, an organization that aims to assist veterans in Pittsburgh, pretty much by any means necessary. Some veterans are experiencing homelessness, which includes those who are sleeping from “couch to couch.” Others are in need of being connected to resources like employment, mental health therapists or tangible items like clothing and toiletries.
No Hero Left Behind held a Veterans Appreciation Luncheon on Nov. 18 at Bethesda Presbyterian Church, in Homewood. There were about 50 veterans in attendance, and they, in layman terms, were celebrated.
“It takes a level of commitment to serve in the military,” Eric Howze said.
Among the speakers were state Rep. LaTasha Mayes, and representatives from the Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System, Homewood CCAC and Veterans Leadership Program.
They all worked in tandem to give the veterans all the resources needed to become self-sufficient.
“The best way to reduce veteran homelessness and suicide is to commit to eliminating barriers toward self-sufficiency and long-term recovery for underserved military vets in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” Eric Howze said.
AN EVENT HONORING VETERANS WAS HELD, NOV. 18, IN HOMEWOOD
Eric Howze said the event gave the veterans a place to socialize with each other, as oftentimes, Howze said, he feels veterans are overlooked. They were also served meals, listened to live music from the Po’Etic Jazz Band, and participated in a veteran art project hosted by Painting With Purpose. Also, a military appreciation poem was read by a fellow veteran, Saloam Bey.
“A lot of times it’s only in November where veterans are shown appreciation through businesses and restaurants. What we aim to do with No Hero Left Behind is to show veterans that appreciation all year-round. Not only are they not alone, but they are loved and there are a group of veterans who are looking to help them,” he told the Courier.
And for Christina Flewellen-Howze, she’s big on providing veterans with educational resources. “As a veteran I got the chance to graduate from Chatham University with honors,” she said. “…Because of the educational benefits from the military I was able to be the first in my family to go to college, setting an example for future generations.”
Christina Flewellen-Howze served in the Army from 2003-2006.
What No Hero Left Behind aims to accomplish is needed. Statistics show that an average of 17 veterans commit suicide each day in the U.S., and on any given night, roughly 40,000 veterans are unsheltered. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 1-in-10 veterans has a substance use disorder.
“There’s no cookie-cutter way to help each veteran,” Eric Howze told the Courier. “We’re able to use different providers and resources in the community.”
Oftentimes, Eric Howze discusses running No Hero Left Behind as, “Our misery is our ministry.”
“It’s really knowing that everyone has a story,” Howze explained, “and ultimately you have to have courage to be able to find help for yourself to then feel empowered” to help others. “You then find that so many other vets are worse off than you, so you reach out and help them so they don’t fall into the cracks of homelessness and suicide.”
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