SEATTLE — The Salvation Army said they are seeing more veterans in need of services in western Washington.
“When you look across all programs the Salvation Army operates in western Washington, our need to support veterans is up nearly 20%,” said Lt. Colonel Cindy Foley, the divisional commander of the Salvation Army Northwest Division.
In 2023, the Salvation Army said it provided services to 660 homeless veterans in western Washington, up from 643 in 2022 and 558 in 2021.
“Last year we helped over 600 veterans with services and many getting them into permanent housing or returning them safely to their families where they do have a job and a place to live,” said Lt. Colonel Foley.
She said veterans are in all 19 of their programs in King County, and about 30 veterans live in the William Booth Center, a shelter for homeless men.
One of the people staying there now is retired U.S. Navy Veteran Geoffrey Morris.
“I served from July 25th, 1988 to July 31st, 2008,” said Morris. “I've been stationed a lot of places, but the longest I've been stationed anywhere was in Japan. And I still live over there, but for medical reasons, I'm here right now.”
Morris has been living at the William Booth Center in Seattle for about five months.
Over the past year and a half, Morris has faced numerous medical problems including heart failure, a brain infection, and he was even in a coma for a month in 2023.
Doctors with the VA where he lives in Japan said he needed to go to the United States for treatment, something hard to fathom for Morris with the financial challenges he was facing due to medical bills and being a single father of five.
“I really had no money left when I was coming over here,” said Morris.
He has his own room at the shelter and gets transportation to his medical appointments.
“Every vet should know about this being available. I mean, they saved me,” said Morris. “This saved my life, and I will forever be grateful for this.”
Morris said he is going back to Japan in 12 days to be reunited with his family. He will start working again, live with his family, and then find an apartment.
The Salvation Army receives some of its referrals from the King County Veterans Program. Last year, that program helped 27,000 veterans, service members and their families with housing, mental health counseling and more.
The Department of Veteran Affairs said as of this week, there are 793 veterans who are known to be experiencing homelessness in King County. They said that in recent years, we have seen an almost 40% reduction in veteran homelessness in King County, but that in the past two years, the number of known homeless veterans has consistently been between 700-800 people.
The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs said veterans and their families can always reach out to their Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-800-562-2308 or benefits@dva.wa.gov to get connected with specific programs and services that may be able to help their situation.