Wayne County Stand Down event slated for Thursday
By Melinda Harrell
Published in News on September 30, 2015 1:46 PM
Organizations will offer assistance to homeless veterans and veterans in need in Wayne County during the second annual Wayne County Stand Down event Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The non-profit group QSA Foundation, which is an organization created to help military families and homeless children, is hosting the event.
Sheila Parson, founder QSA Foundation, said the services that will be provided to these veterans will hopefully improve their living conditions.
Ms. Parson said the Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Volunteers of America, Social Security Administration, Veteran Administrative Services and the Fayetteville VA will be available Thursday to answer questions and offer assistance.
Hairdressers, barbers, a dentist, the DMV and other medical centers will be available to provide help and services as well. Some of those services include health checks, dental care and HIV testing.
There will be potential employers at Wayne County Stand Down this year too.
"There will also be a company there that helps with housing for those in need of housing and place them in a home," Ms. Parson said.
"This is the second year that I have been in charge of it. I also hosted the Pitt County Stand Down for the last four or five years."
Ms. Parson, a veteran herself, founded QSA Foundation in 2002 because she recognized the need while she was volunteering to a children's home in Detroit.
"Some of the children said their parents had died in the military, and I said, 'I need to help homeless children and military families,'" she explained.
She said many people say that there is not an influx of homeless vets in Wayne County, but she said last year's Wayne County Stand Down served around 150 homeless veterans.
"I get, 'We can't find any homeless vets in this area,'" she said.
"There is a need because we have one homeless vet -- last year we had 150 homeless that stated that they were homeless in that county -- one is too much. If they prefer to be in a homeless setting, then we are giving them clothes and gloves and refresh their items so that they are not totally devastated."
Wayne County Stand Down will also serve veterans from Wilson and Lenoir counties.
Ms. Parson, along with other volunteers for QSA Foundation, have assisted families Lexington, Ky., Detroit and various counties in Eastern North Carolina along with helping military families that are struggling in Nashville, Tenn.
The foundation is run solely on volunteers.
For more information about QSA Foundation, email sheila@qsafoundation.org.