LAKELAND, Fla. — Herbert Burns is ready to become independent again. Not able to afford a place of his own, the U.S. Army veteran has been jumping from one relative's house to another.
“I’ve been living with family and friends. I've been paying them money, but I haven’t had my own place,” Burns said.
Burns will be the first person to move into the Col. Freddie C. Austin Veterans Building. It’s a new Lakeland shelter for veterans experiencing homelessness.
“I got a chance to feel like a human being. I can get to my medical appointments, do the things that I need to do, that I can’t do myself,” Burns.
The number of veterans experiencing homelessness in Florida has dropped by nearly 70% since 2010, according to the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs.
The Nonprofit New Life Outreach Ministry is committed to keeping those numbers down. The Lakeland organization operates six homes that offer permanent housing, residential transitional housing, and employment services for men in need. The veteran home, which is not quite ready for occupation, will provide shelter for six men.
"The number of homeless men and women who are vets, the mental illnesses and some of the other barriers that they face and it doesn’t seem fair that that would exist today. So this is the portion that we could do,” said Larry Mitchell.
Mitchell, the founder and director of New Life Outreach Ministry, said vets will be connected to various services, including medical, illegal, and mental health.
The organization received $550,000 in government funding and raised $300,000. Mitchell said it relies on donations and is still in need of items such as mattresses and a washer-dryer set.
“We need staff, we need donations. There’s a big cost in operating these houses, and it’s a challenge each and every day,” Mitchell said.
If you would like to donate, contact New Life Outreach Ministry.
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