History

Stand Downs are one part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ efforts to provide services to homeless veterans. Stand Downs are typically one to three day events providing services to homeless Veterans such as food, shelter, clothing, health screenings, VA and Social Security benefits counseling, and referrals to a variety of other necessary services, such as housing, employment and substance abuse treatment. Stand Downs are collaborative events, coordinated between local Veteran Administration offices, other government agencies, and community agencies who serve the homeless.

The first Stand Down was organized in 1988 by a group of Vietnam veterans in San Diego. Since then, Stand Downs have been used as an effective tool in reaching out to homeless Veterans, reaching more than 200,000 Veterans and their family members between 1994-2000.

Stand Down is an intervention that was conceived from the ground up specifically for veterans. It is designed to transform the despair and immobility of homelessness into the momentum necessary to get into recovery, to resolve legal issues, to seek employment, to access health services and benefits, to reconnect with the community and to get off the streets.

The first Stand Down was designed in 1988 under the auspices of the Vietnam Veterans of San Diego (VVSD) to provide coordinated, comprehensive services to homeless veterans over a three-day period at one site. This service model was designed to bridge many of the physical and psychological barriers between service providers and recipients. Primary emphasis was placed on the creation of a community in which homeless veterans are treated with respect and given the opportunity to relax, interact and form ties with peers and volunteers while receiving much needed specific services. Stand Down has helped thousands of homeless veterans since its inception in 1988.

Stand Down began as the dream of Robert Van Keuren, then the Executive Director of VVSD, and Jon Nachison, Ph.D., Clinical Director of VVSD. Concerned about the increasing numbers of homeless veterans coming to VVSD for services in the mid-80’s, Robert Van Keuren remembered Stand Down, respite he and his military unit were given after being particularly hard hit in Cambodia during the Vietnam war. He decided to create a Stand Down for homeless veterans and integrate, at one site, veteran services which were scattered throughout San Diego County. He and Jon began working out the details, making great progress during canoe trips on the Colorado River. Their basic premise was that this would be a community intervention which encouraged wide participation among service providers, both veteran specific and general, and sought the opinions of homeless veterans themselves to make known what was needed to get them off the streets and reintegrated into the community as productive members.

And so, the dream became a reality and more. Each year since the first, Stand Down has grown and been refined to meet the needs of our homeless veterans. Today, fourteen years from when the first homeless walked on the field, we have over 150 organizations/agencies and more than 2500 volunteers from all walks of life that make Stand Down happen. Some of these never set a foot on the Stand Down field; others are there from the first day of set up until the site is returned to its original form. Perhaps the hallmark of success is that each year more and more of our volunteers were once participants who have made the courageous move to change their lives.

Veterans Village of San Diego