EL PASO - The Housing Authority estimates that on any given day, about 160 homeless veterans are living on the streets of El Paso.
Washing the dishes, getting the mail, and even boiling water are all things we take for granted; but not Larry Lochala.
"Homelessness can happen to anybody - a disaster, a bad habit, a divorce," said Larry Lochala, who served a tour in Vietnam.
"I was being shot at for the time time when I was 18," he said.
When he returned from combat, he lived a sad, familiar story - post traumatic stress disorder and a divorce.
"My wife certainly didn't understand why I was kicking in my dreams and I had actually choked her one time," he said.
He lived on the streets for years, feeling paranoid and isolated. Then he heard about a federal grant awarded to the Housing Authority of El Paso, a grant intended to bring veterans off the streets and into homes.
"Now they have a home, not just a place to live but an actual home," said Lorena Rivera, who coordinates the program. They received another $100,000 this week - enough to usher another 95 homeless veterans off El Paso streets. But Rivera says that's only part of the solution.
"They have no belongings, no furniture, no clothing sometimes," Rivera said.
That's where you come in. You can bring donations like cash, furniture, and toiletries to any veterans affairs office and give people like Larry Lochala a second chance.
"I love people, and I always have loved people and now I'm able to reach out and help those people who can't help themselves," Lochala said.
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