When Brenda Young joined the U.S. Army in 1981, she saw it as an opportunity to travel the world.
“I wanted to see things and get away from home,” said Young, who enlisted via a delayed entry program and was in boot camp at Fort Jackson, S.C. right after graduating high school. “My girlfriend and I went in on the buddy system.”
The Augusta native mostly worked in clerical capacities for the Inspector General, and her service took her from California to Hawaii, Japan and Guam. After completing active duty in 1987, she continued in the 319th Transportation Company with the Army Reserves for another three years.
“I had very good experience with the military,” she said.
Young is one of the more than 100 veterans housed through VA Augusta’s Health Care for Homeless Veterans Program in 2022. After leaving the service, she took various jobs throughout the years, working mostly in restaurants and even at a position at Club Car before she became disabled after a hip replacement in 2010.
The VA was able to assist her amid her disability through 2015. But the independence she enjoyed was abruptly lost in 2021 when a kitchen fire destroyed her home. She barely escaped, struggling to make sure her dog Pogo was safe. Emergency crew urged her to leave the building and were able to rescue her dog, who required resuscitation.
“They went in and got him, put them on a ground and brought him back,” said Young. “They took him over to BluePearl animal hospital.”
Young credits the staff at BluePearl for their generosity. Pogo’s treatment would have normally cost about $900, she said, but considering what she had been through, the hospital accepted the $250 she was able to pay.
Family was able to step in over the following months, as Young lived with an aunt for four months and then a sister for two. She had already reported to her VA caseworker, who was able to set up her up with the program.
Within six months of the fire, Young was placed in a new home, in a new apartment complex in Hephzibah, where she now lives.
“It was a stressful time in my life, and I got a little depressed,” she said. “But after we got to going, they helped me with everything, from getting in here to furnishing the apartment.”
Young received chairs, table, towels, kitchenware, a bed and bedding, dishes and more, all free of charge, via donations from VA community partners such as Augusta Urban Ministries.
“Every veteran comes to us with a different story,” said homeless program manager Sabrina Faircloth. “We work with veterans that were facing eviction, but also of veterans that were maybe living with family but they were no longer able to do so.”
Faircloth recalls one example of a recently-housed veteran who had been diagnosed with cancer but had not been getting treatment because he didn’t have any place to sleep afterward.
“We were looking into his treatment and willing to work with mental health care, helped him get his social security benefits, and he ended up graduating from our program and purchasing a home,” she said.
While the walk-in office for the homeless veterans program is located at Augusta VA Medical Center Uptown, the administration will accommodate vets in need wherever they are. Through partnerships with both Uber and Lyft, it will even transport former servicemembers seeking help to the offices for free.
“There’s no wrong door to get our services,” said Fairlcoth.
Young calls the program a “godsend,” and urges fellow veterans in need to contact the VA for help. She touts the quiet area, peaceful neighbors and attentive managers.
“It’s a beautiful place to start over,” she said, having leased it for another year and looking now to restore the home she lost so that another vet can enjoy the space she has now. “Next year, I hope to be back at my house. That’s my ultimate goal.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
