Coming Home: A story of gratitude and connection

Wayne Stone is a grateful man – always has been. But this time it’s different. As he looks around his apartment in Lebanon, NH, he is filled with gratitude for his surroundings. “I have a nice apartment. I have running water, and a bathroom. It’s so much better.”  

Stone is a US Army Vietnam War Veteran, aged 71, with a joyful smile, bright eyes, and a silver beard. Despite numerous hardships and misfortune throughout his life, he is not angry, bitter, or hostile. He smiles easily and laughs often. As he looks around his apartment, Stone reflects on his journey.  

He left school in the sixth grade to get a job that would help him provide for his mother and siblings. During this time, his estranged father ran off with Stone to another state over 1500 miles away. Stone was put to work by his father so that he could support him and his girlfriend, both of whom were unemployed.  

Worried for his mother, Stone eventually figured out how to board a bus and return home to NH. His father came after him and while Stone was asleep, launched a violent assault on his mother. Stone awoke and was able to intervene although his mother sustained injuries. His father eventually agreed to leave. As Stone shares this incident, the pain is evident, and an uncharacteristic darkness comes over him.  

At age sixteen, Stone joined the Army, thinking he could serve his country and support his family at the same time.  He took the GED test for his high school diploma and passed with flying colors. He was later deployed to Vietnam where he experienced the loss of his best friend amid the grim reality of war.    

Stone returned home from Vietnam where he had attained the rank of Sergeant and transitioned from military life to civilian life. He got married, started a family, and maintained a good job at the same manufacturing company for over 20 years. He earned regular bonuses, purchased land, and built a house. Wayne Stone built a life.  

One day, he came home from work to find his wife had left him, later discovering their savings account had been drained. As a result of the divorce settlement, the house was sold, and most of the proceeds went to Stone’s ex-wife who maintained custody of their children.  

As his life unraveled, Stone found himself in a downward spiral, culminating in a very serious car accident from which he suffered critical injuries. He recovered slowly but experienced lingering effects from so many broken bones. A short time later, he was diagnosed with a heart condition called sinus node syndrome, requiring a pacemaker be implanted to regulate his heart rhythm.  

Because Stone worked for a company that uses and produces arc welding equipment, a known risk for people with pacemakers, he could no longer work there. Wayne now found himself without a job and on disability, receiving approximately $400 per month, an amount that would not cover rent, groceries, or other life necessities.  At age 69, Wayne Stone became homeless.  

An estimated 32,882 Veterans experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2024 according to the 2024 Point-in-Time Count published by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Behind each statistic is a fellow human being with unique challenges and life experiences despite the shared experience of becoming homeless. 

While still a staggering number, this is the lowest count since reporting began in 2009. Nationally, however, homelessness outside of the Veteran population has increased. In fact, studies indicate that homelessness among people 50 and older is growing the fastest, predicted to triple by 2030.  

For VA staff battling the complex nature of homelessness, the latest Veteran data offers hope. They know that behind each data point lies a personal story. A story of what led someone into homelessness and a story of what led them out of homelessness.  

VA Homeless Program staff are acutely aware that behind each success story is a village comprised of dedicated people both within VA and the community that includes established partners and random individuals who choose to do what they can to help someone in need.   

Fortunately, Stone’s journey takes a positive turn and serves as a testament to the power of partnership and teamwork. 

June 2023 

In Stone’s community, it’s against the law to sleep on the street. In fact, in every state of the country, except Oregon and Wyoming, sleeping in a tent, sleeping in a public place, and many other activities associated with being homeless are against the law. Fines, arrests, and tickets can be issued to those who are unhoused and found “committing homelessness”.  

On a summer day as Wayne walked down the street, “Joe” happened to be driving by and decided to stop. This turned out to be a stroke of serendipity.  

He had seen Wayne around, started to figure he had no place to live, and decided to strike up a conversation.  

Joe pulled over in his old truck and the two started talking. Joe decided he could do something to help and offered Stone a place to stay on his property so that he wouldn’t be arrested for sleeping in public. It wasn’t much. It was a shed where Joe ran a small woodworking business making wooden bowls and other objects. It was uninsulated, strewn with wood shavings, and had no running water or bathroom. But there was a woodstove that could run part of the night when it was cold. It’s where Joe’s dog used to stay. It was shelter and Stone slept on the floor. He walked across the street to use the bathroom in a little store that opened at 8 am where the owners had agreed to let him use the bathroom whenever necessary during their open hours.  

Stone offered Joe money for letting him stay in the woodshed, but he would not accept it. According to Stone, his staying there sometimes interfered with Joe’s business, “but Joe wouldn’t accept a penny”.  

Stone continued to search for affordable housing but when he called, the rentals would be gone, having been rented even before current tenants moved out. 

Joe wanted to do more, so he started searching for resources to help. He had learned that Stone was a Veteran. After some calls and leads, Joe connected with an organization called Clear Path for Veterans New England. Here he spoke with Wayne Dunham.  

August 2024 

Knowing just what to do, Dunham reached out to the White River Junction VA Homeless team, seeking the support of the HUD-VASH Program, led by Jason Brill. Jason tapped into the VA’s network of community partners. From here, things really began to happen.  

September 2024 

Wayne Stone was admitted into the HUD-VASH program on September 4, 2024. With Joe and Wayne’s help, he found an apartment with Ledgeworks Property Management and his application to rent was approved on September 27, 2024. The landlord even held the apartment until the administrative process was complete.  

October 2024 

Stone’s voucher was issued by the Public Housing Authority (NH Housing Authority) on October 1, 2024, and he moved into his apartment on October 23, 2024.  

He now meets with Emily Vrissis, VA Social Worker, once a week for ongoing Clinical Social Work Case Management. They talk about many things including how sometimes things that happen to us in the past can have an effect years later. Wayne has started receiving healthcare from the White River Junction VA to address his ongoing arthritis and other health issues.   

VA has fine-tuned an effective system to address Veteran homelessness. Building relationships with community partners, finding landlords willing to work with the HUD-VASH program, and offering additional supportive services has proven to be a winning formula. Not perfect but clearly successful, as can be seen in VA’s recent announcement that nearly 48,000 Veterans experiencing homelessness nationally were supported in getting into permanent housing during Fiscal Year 2024. Locally, in the WRJ VA region our homeless programs and partners supported 132 Veterans experiencing homelessness to obtain permanent housing, exceeding our goal by 140%! 

So why are some Veterans still homeless? There’s not a simple answer of course. For Veterans like Wayne Stone, a little serendipity - a kind stranger stopping to help, a landlord who held an apartment when they were in very short supply - helped steer the ship in the right direction. Critical support from a network of people, a small village essentially, helped it all come together.  

Each step along the way was dependent upon there being a willing hand to receive it. Through VA’s National Call Center for Homeless Veterans, that help is always available by calling 1-877-424-3838. But we know that at any time, someone could have chosen to give up or step away, including Wayne Stone. His grateful spirit and determination, along with his willingness to accept assistance, have brought him home.  

In a society where so many people live paycheck to paycheck, housing and stability are fragile. VA has built a strong response to Veteran homelessness. But sometimes, even if you build it, a helping hand from a perfect stranger with a kind heart can make all the difference in someone finding the way there. It’s a happy reminder that we are all deeply interconnected, and our actions do matter.  

Wayne Stone understands that life may not always be fair, but he chooses to focus on gratitude. The scars of his past may still haunt him at times, but he has learned to find some peace in the present. 

As he prepares to go grocery shopping with Vrissis, he carries with him the ups and downs of his life thus far. But one thing is clear: Wayne Stone is determined to embrace each moment with that same grateful heart and enjoy being home.