Marine Corps Veteran, Jeremy Brown, grew up in Texarkana and entered the military right after high school. He served from 1996 – 2000 as security forces and infantry. After leaving the military, he became a welder, married and had children. But when he and his wife got involved with drugs, everything changed.
“I was incarcerated and while I was in prison, my parental rights were terminated. When my wife went to prison, our kids were put in state custody. My wife got custody when she got out, but I’m not allowed to see my kids.”
Mr. Brown paroled to St. Francis House last October, but later left to go back to Texarkana where his grandmother lived. “We were really close. She raised me.” When his grandmother died, he was devastated. But things got even worse. On April 12th, he was the victim of an attempted robbery. “According to the police reports, I hit the gas and hit a tree. I don’t remember any of it because I was in a coma for eight days. I fractured a vertebrae and had blunt force trauma to my head. When I left the hospital, I went to the Veterans Day Treatment Center and they immediately got me back in to St. Francis House.”
Mr. Brown is looking for a place to live through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD–VASH) program and is planning to get a job as a welder in a town outside of Little Rock. “I’m ready to start my new life there. But the Day Treatment Center and St. Francis House have been a lifeline. I wouldn’t have a place to stay if not for them. I would tell any Veteran, rely on the Center, ask for help. It’s out there.”