Compass Housing Alliance was honored to welcome Mr. Randy Reeves, the Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Reeves traveled to Washington State for official business related to our local national cemeteries and took some time out of his schedule to meet some Veterans at Compass Housing Alliance.
The Under Secretary brought along his Executive Assistant Katy Mozingo, and his Executive Director of Strategy and Analysis Gina Farrisee. Under Secretary Reeves had a distinguished career in the US Air Force and Navy and has a track record of increasing services for Veterans in his home state of Mississippi, and now for the country, in his role as Under Secretary.
When Under Secretary Reeves and his staff arrived at the Compass Housing Alliance Renton Veterans Center (RVC), he immediately put staff at ease.
It’s not every day that they welcome a government official to their programs, and they were excited to show him some of the ways we serve Veterans. We took a walking tour of the building, which has 59 units of housing for Veterans and their families.
We stopped into a meeting of Healing Waters, a group that teaches Veterans about fly fishing and how to create flies. The Veteran who leads the group talked about how meditative the work can be—allowing the people in the group to create something while being together. The group then offers the chance for residents to go out on fishing trips to use their handmade flies!
Then the Under Secretary met some of the staff who work in RVC. He had them all laughing in no time! He and Alex, an RVC Case Manager, chatted about their favorite Southern food.
We went next door to Luther’s Table for lunch, where the Under Secretary sat down with some of the Veterans who live at the Renton Veterans Center.
He asked each one about their service and thanked them. He asked them how things are going for them and if there is anything that the VA can do to help. They all loved the chance to talk with him about their service and hear how much he cared about their experiences.
Next, we went downtown Seattle to the Compass Center’s Pioneer Square Men’s Program (PSMP). PSMP has 79 units of transitional housing for homeless men, with 30 units set aside for Veterans. Guests of the program can stay there during the day as well as overnight, allowing them to have appointments with staff and a safe place to build stability.
Many Veterans were out at appointments for the day, but the Under Secretary and his staff stopped to speak with several who were in their units. While each Veteran at PSMP is working on stability and overcoming barriers to housing, they were all excited to see Under Secretary Reeves and talk with him about their service, as well as their plans for the future.
Compass Housing Alliance thanks the Under Secretary and his staff for their visit!